News
Union says too many women running railway off track
Recruiting unskilled employees under political influence has resulted in about 6,000 vacancies for professionals in Sri Lanlka Railways, a union official said.
Railway carriages at the workshop in Ratmalana
Railway Employees’ Union Convenor S.P. Vithanage claimed that there were only about 20 professionals to maintain the upcountry services. He said women were recruited on the recommendation of politicians from time to time and they could not run the Railways — but a top Railway official said this had happened during the former regime. The official also claimed the number of professional vacancies was 3,000 and not 6,000.
The union leader claimed that the main reason for the Railway going downhill was politicisation of the recruitment process.
Under the 100-day Good Governance Programme, some 500 people were recruited though they did not have proper assigned duties or place. Recruiting women for heavy duty railway jobs is another reason for the losses.
He said there were casual employees working for a long time but measures to make them permanent had come to a standstill.
Referring to reports that train fares would be increased soon, Mr. Vithanage said the unions had no objections to this so long as commuters were given better facilities and train services were run on time. Recently, the unions made six demands and took strike action but they were uncertain whether the authorities would keep their word given at the talks. One of the demands was against the appointment of a new board of administrators. The unions also sought a salary rise.
Railways General Manager S.M. Abewickrema said lower grade recruitment took place during the former regime. He said an increase in recruiting for maintenance work was posing problems.
These problems could not be solved over night but appropriate action would be taken, he said.
“There is a procedure on cadre recruitment and as the former management had limited recruitment to the upped grades, there are now about 3,000 vacancies,” he said.
The General Manager said they would discuss the situation with the ministry and steps would be taken to remedy the situation.