Women loco pilots fight against rules that deny them ‘lighter’ jobs during pregnancy

Working in highly demanding conditions, women locopilots and assistant locopilots (ALPs) are fighting against tougher rules that deny them “lighter” jobs during pregnancy for safe delivery of babies.

The Railways have employed 1,350 women as locopilots and assistant locopilots among the total of 65,000 across the country. “Women employees in other departments are given a lighter work when they are in the family way so that they do not face fatigue at working hours. We are also seeking the same not just to get parity but also because ours is one of the toughest jobs — longer working hours in tougher conditions,” said a senior woman locopilot.

The job is challenging even for male locopilots given that they are restricted to the small cabins in the locomotives from the time of signing in to signing out. “Unlike coaches, engines do not have toilets. We hardly get two minutes to attend to the call of nature. And if our stomach gets upset, it will be like a hell to continue with the duty in an express/mail as the trains stop for only one minute at most of the stations,” said a male locopilot of over two decades of service.

The responsibility of an assistant localpilot is to hook up the engine with train or goods rakes. “The iron hooks would weigh around 18 kg-20 kg and lifting them requires to strain every nerve. This is not at all advised for pregnant women, especially those in the early days of pregnancy,” said a female locopilot.

Climbing up into the cabin of a locomotive parked in yards or outside a platform itself is an uphill task even for men. “An accidental slip would land them on hard gravels,” a union leader said.

Besides, assistant locopilots need to crawl under the chasis of wagons or coaches during incidences of brake-binding. It needs lot of efforts to physically rotate the cylinders, in squatted position, to set right the wheel back in motion.

“Imagine, if such an effort has to be made in the middle of a forest area in a pitch dark night, when we often find all types of poisonous reptiles moving around even near railway yards. When the very sight of a cobra can send chill down the spine, what kind of shock can it give to a pregnant woman. Will it not affect her pregnancy,” another woman pilot asked.

Painful menstrual days

“Forget about pregnant women, the working condition for other woman locopilots is also not very friendly. With the mandate for working longer hours, between 9 and 12 hours, a woman locopilot/assistant locopilot during her menstrual periods cannot find privacy in the cabin to change pads if they work with a fellow male crew member. Then, what is the use of creating awareness of personal hygiene during Women’s Day celebrations,” one of the woman locopilots asked.

The women locopilots, like many men, avoid drinking adequate quantity of water during duty hours fearing all these inconvenience.

More night shifts are taking a toll on women’s reproductive organs. “We all chose this job for our livelihood. But these conditions threaten to take away our family life. Not all mothers-in-law understand our occupational blue,” another woman locopilot lamented.

The women also complain that often railway officials put pressure on railway doctors to deny medical leave for employees to run the daily show.

Railway union leaders in Madurai had to fight with the officials to get leave for a woman locopilot to get treatment after she had a miscarriage, the union leader said.

“We do not want unions to fight for us with the officials. All that we want is the Railway Board to frame rules that would give us lighter jobs during pregnancy, which will be just a few months in the entire career of a woman locopilot. Otherwise, we should be allowed to exhaust our leave or go on loss of pay,” a young woman assistant locopilot said. The locopilots and the assistant locopilots want to be allowed to go on leave during their menstrual cycles.

Shortage of locopilots

The women locopilots/assistant locopilots are making such a demand against the backdrop of shortage of locopilots/assistant locopilots, which is not allowing officials to be flexible with women as they have to run trains/goods without break.

“As against the rule to maintain the strength of locopilots at 130% to allow them to attend training programmes and take weekly off/leave, we have got only 120%. To overcome the shortage, the officials are not in a position to spare women, though they are very negligible in number,” a union leader said.

All India Railwaymen’s Federation general secretary Shiva Gopal Mishra said that under the prevailing service conditions, lighter jobs could not be given to the locopilots. India was among very few countries that granted two years of child care leave for women, along with six months of maternity leave.

“Women locopilots can take their leave whenever they find it physically not possible to work due to pregnancy or during their periods,” he said.

He disapproved of the practice of railway doctors denying medical leave at the insistence of higher officials. “Railway employees deserve to avail themselves of their leave. In case, the employees face any such difficulties, union leaders should intervene and restore their rights,” he added.

He said he would take up the issue of denial of leave with the Railway Board Chairman. He would also take up the demand for lighter jobs during pregnancy at the Joint Consultative Machinery for Central government employees.

Rights violations

“It is a gross human rights violation to make women locopilots/assistant locopilots suffer during their menstrual cycles. The women, especially during their pregnancy, should not be allowed to be at the mercy of officials,” Madurai MP Su. Venkatesan said.

The women among locopilots/ALPs are very small in number and their voice is not heard though they face several practical problems. Stating that he would highlight the issue in Parliament, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader said that officials needed to be sensitised to the whole issue.



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