Delhi Metro Staff Threaten to Intensify Stir if Demands Over Pay Scale Not Met

New Delhi: A section of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Staff Council, who have been protesting over a number of issues, including pay scale, on Thursday threatened to intensify the stir if their demands were not met in the next few days, a senior official of the council said.

Some of the non-executive staff of the DMRC have been demonstrating at the Yamuna Bank and Shahdara metro stations since June 19 to pitch for their eight-point demand.

The council said the demands have been sent to Delhi Metro authorities and the Union Urban Affairs Ministry, seeking redressal of their grievances.

"Our first demand is that the DMRC Staff Council be changed to a DMRC employees union as the council is not a constitutional body and so, it does not have any teeth. Other demands include implementation of our Industrial Dearness Allowance (IDA) as per the 3rd pay revision scale," the council's secretary, Ravi Bhardwaj, said.

He said on first day many employees, from drivers to station controllers and other staff wore black armbands to register their protest.

"Subsequently, when the DMRC did not take cognisance of our demands, we went on symbolic hunger strike, when many of our members did not consume food while on duty and demonstrated by sitting on platforms," he said. According to the DMRC, there are a total of 12,000 people employed with the transporters. "There are some HR issues, which we hope, would be resolved," a senior DMRC official said. Bhardwaj claimed that non-executive staff comprised "about 9,000 of the total employee base".

A call was sent out by the council to the members to join the stir, but not everyone has participated in the agitation.

"If our demands are not met in next few days, we will go on complete hunger strike and work in that condition, and drivers will drive trains in that condition. And, if anything happens to our members or to commuters then the DMRC shall be responsible for it," Bhardwaj said. "Even then if our voices are not heard by DMRC authorities, we will completely stop work," he claimed

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