Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav's recent announcement to absorb porters as gangmen led to a wave of celebrations across railway stations in the country, except at Bhavnagar Junction here.
The porters at this main junction in Saurashtra have little to cheer about as 22 of the 25 porters are women above the age of 35 - one of the two factors that make them ineligible for a government job that demands heavy physical work.
It was in 1880 that Takhtsinhji Thakor, the then ruler of Bhavnagar, started a rail link for his kingdom. With that, he gave women from the Koli community permission to work as porters. He issued badges, recognised by the Bhavnagar state, to all the 40 porters appointed at that time. In Thaktisinhji's time, the badge could be passed on to a daughter only. While this has not become a rule, the community has followed the tradition even after Independence. Today, women porters without the badge are not allowed to work at the station.
But 55-year-old Hariben Chaganbhai, who has been working as a porter for close to 30 years now, feels the new Railway Budget won't change anything for her.
"I earn Rs 2,000-3,000 per month ferrying goods of passengers. I am not educated, but I do know that to become a gangman, one needs some qualification and one has to be in the right age bracket. Given such conditions, nothing is going to change for me or other women porters here," she said.
Gomtiben, 60, another porter, opines that either the Railway Minister doesn't know about women porters or he has simply ignored them. "I am happy for other porters. But the Government should also consider cases of women like me," she says.
Like Gomtiben, Champaben Varmani has also been assisting her mother at the station since the age of 15. Now she is 40. "I have learnt from my mother how luggage is to be taken care of, and how to earn the faith of a passenger," says Champaben. She charges Rs 20 to Rs 50, depending on the weight of the luggage.
With one long-distance train and a couple of short-distance ones stopping here, a porter on an average at Bhavnagar station earns anything around Rs 100 per day. Says Champaben, "Gangmen have two advantages. They earn around Rs 5,000 per month and they are also Government employees."
"We also work as maids. So, we can have multiple sources of income," adds Hariben.
Mahavirsinh Gohil, chairman of Western Railway Mazdoor Sangh, is also sceptical that the new arrangement would be of help to women porters. "The parameter for the job of gangman like minimum SSC pass and 28 years of age for direct recruitment are expected to be followed."
Gohil adds that that of the nearly 4,000 gangmen in Gujarat, the number of women workers is not more than 50. Besides, these women were recruited as replacement following the death of a gangman, and rarely as a direct appointment.
http://in.news.yahoo.com/indianexpress/20080305/r_t_ie_nl_politics/tnl-railway-budget-does-little-for-bhavn-0058794_1.html
The porters at this main junction in Saurashtra have little to cheer about as 22 of the 25 porters are women above the age of 35 - one of the two factors that make them ineligible for a government job that demands heavy physical work.
It was in 1880 that Takhtsinhji Thakor, the then ruler of Bhavnagar, started a rail link for his kingdom. With that, he gave women from the Koli community permission to work as porters. He issued badges, recognised by the Bhavnagar state, to all the 40 porters appointed at that time. In Thaktisinhji's time, the badge could be passed on to a daughter only. While this has not become a rule, the community has followed the tradition even after Independence. Today, women porters without the badge are not allowed to work at the station.
But 55-year-old Hariben Chaganbhai, who has been working as a porter for close to 30 years now, feels the new Railway Budget won't change anything for her.
"I earn Rs 2,000-3,000 per month ferrying goods of passengers. I am not educated, but I do know that to become a gangman, one needs some qualification and one has to be in the right age bracket. Given such conditions, nothing is going to change for me or other women porters here," she said.
Gomtiben, 60, another porter, opines that either the Railway Minister doesn't know about women porters or he has simply ignored them. "I am happy for other porters. But the Government should also consider cases of women like me," she says.
Like Gomtiben, Champaben Varmani has also been assisting her mother at the station since the age of 15. Now she is 40. "I have learnt from my mother how luggage is to be taken care of, and how to earn the faith of a passenger," says Champaben. She charges Rs 20 to Rs 50, depending on the weight of the luggage.
With one long-distance train and a couple of short-distance ones stopping here, a porter on an average at Bhavnagar station earns anything around Rs 100 per day. Says Champaben, "Gangmen have two advantages. They earn around Rs 5,000 per month and they are also Government employees."
"We also work as maids. So, we can have multiple sources of income," adds Hariben.
Mahavirsinh Gohil, chairman of Western Railway Mazdoor Sangh, is also sceptical that the new arrangement would be of help to women porters. "The parameter for the job of gangman like minimum SSC pass and 28 years of age for direct recruitment are expected to be followed."
Gohil adds that that of the nearly 4,000 gangmen in Gujarat, the number of women workers is not more than 50. Besides, these women were recruited as replacement following the death of a gangman, and rarely as a direct appointment.
http://in.news.yahoo.com/indianexpress/20080305/r_t_ie_nl_politics/tnl-railway-budget-does-little-for-bhavn-0058794_1.html
