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Indian Railwaymen seeks four-fold increase in the emoluments

The National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR) will soon chalk out an action plan to achieve its primary demand of a four-fold increase in the emoluments of the estimated 14-lakh workforce by the proposed Sixth Pay Commission.

M. Raghavaiah, NFIR general secretary, was speaking to presspersons on Friday after addressing a meeting of employees in connection with the first-ever ‘secret ballot’ of recognised trade unions in the history of railways.

The elections will be held from November 26 to 28 in the 16 zones of the railways. Over 13.5 lakh employees will cast their votes. While the main contestants are NFIR and All-India Railwaymen Federation (AIFR), any union that gets 30 per cent of the votes will be declared as ‘recognised’.

Mr. Raghavaiah, who is also general secretary of SCR Employees’ Sangh, justified the demand saying a working day of a railway employee was uncomparable with any other job. “About 60 per cent of railway employees work in places that are far away from habitations and that do not have basic amenities, he said.