Lucknow Charbagh Railway Sanitation Workers Fired by new Contractor

Lucknow: Scores of Charbagh Railway Station contractual sanitation workers protested here on Tuesday after their “sudden termination”. Most of them had landed at the station on Sunday, as they had been doing for more than three years, only to find out that they were sacked by the new contractor Kings Group, which provides housekeeping service to the Railways. 

Alleging that they were sacked without prior notice, the workers said that they were unaware of “changes” in the work contract. Most of them had been hired by Service Master Clean to clean trains and toilets and fill the water tanks of coaches. They also alleged “a heavy deduction” in salary by the new contractor.

“King Group sacked the old workers without prior notice. Contractor Ashish hired new workers by paying them a lower salary. This is clear exploitation of workers,” worker Dinesh Kumar Singh told Newsclick.

“The sanitation workers were hired at Rs 16,000-Rs 18,500. However, they were being paid Rs 10,000 ever since King Group took over,” Singh alleged adding that “the employees continued working during the pandemic. Instead of receiving rewards, they were dismissed”. 

Singh further alleged that whenever the workers tried to take up the issue with officials, they were either scolded or threatened that they would be fired.

The contractor also made the employees clean platforms, foot-over bridges, escalators and lifts, Singh added. “We are supposed to clean a train, its toilets and every compartment in a short time. But despite our hard work with little resources, we were fired,” he alleged.

Singh’s colleague Durgesh Dixit told Newsclick that around 65 sanitation workers were fired. “The old contractor paid us Rs 16,000 and gave us one day off. After taking over on December 23, King Group demanded a recovery amount of Rs 6,000-Rs 8,000. When we asked them to deduct the amount from our salary, they pressure us for cash. When we refused, we were sacked,” he alleged. 

The workers alleged that they were harassed after refusing to do additional work. “We cleaned more than 16 trains daily in a short time. Besides, we attended to complaints of passengers regarding toilets and berths,” Dixit said.

Vijay Kumar, who is working under King Group, told Newsclick, “I was paid Rs 17,000 per month. After withdrawing the entire amount, I had to pay Rs 7,500 to the contractor. If I refused, I would have been sacked. Instead of being unemployed, at least, I am getting something.”