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Railway motormen call off strike | Mumbai's railway motormen called off their strike after two days here following assurances from Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil that all cases registered against them would be withdrawn and their demands would be looked into with some seriousness. "There will be no action taken against the motormen. All cases registered
against them would be taken back," said Patil. "All the motormen suspended would
be allowed to resume their work," he added Earlier today, over 170 motormen were
detained under the Essential Services Maintenance ACT (ESMA) after it was imposed
by the Maharashtra Government to force them resume their work with immediate effect.
State Chief Minister Ashok Chavan took the decision after an emergency meeting
with senior railway police and state administration officials. Earlier, the Central
Government had given a green signal to the State Government to impose ESMA on
the striking motormen. Earlier this morning, the Central Railway suspended 20
motormen under the Railways Act for their refusal to end their strike, terming
it as illegal. Train services on Central and Western lines in Mumbai continue
to remain badly affected, as the motormen have refused to end their indefinite
hunger strike. Central Railway authorities said they would run only 30 per cent
of their services today. The motormen's strike threw life out of gear for the
city's 70 lakh train commuters. Around 1,000 motormen of both Central and Western
Railways went on a hunger strike to press for higher pay scales and allowances
from Monday morning, causing immense inconvenience to daily commuters. The Railway
Ministry contends that the motormen are demanding higher pay than what has been
recommended by the Sixth Central Pay Commission and additional allowances, which
are not included in the Pay Commission's recommendations. The ministry further
said that some of their demands regarding national holidays and night duty allowances
have already been met. It has asked the general managers of Central and Western
Railways to take all necessary steps in coordination with the Maharashtra Government
to ensure minimum inconvenience to daily commuters. "Railway will not hesitate
in taking the stringent action against those who are not heeding to our request,"
said Anil Saxena, spokesperson of Indian Railways. The striking motormen had earlier
said their protest would continue for the next few days if their demands were
not met. |
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