Delhi Metro Services May Be Hit From Saturday; Staff Threatens To Go On Strike

Delhi Metro services may trouble you from Saturday as select staff may go on strike. The non-executive staff of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has threatened to go on strike from Saturday if their demands, including revisions in pay scale, are not met.  A senior Delhi Metro official, when contacted by news agency Press Trust of India (PTI), said: "There is a possibility of services shutting down if no agreement is reached, but we are hopeful of reaching a resolution."

Here are five things you should know about the looming strike by Delhi Metro officials:
1) DMRC employs nearly 12,000 people. The non-executive staffers are about 9,000. Some of the non-executive staff of DMRC have been protesting at a few metro stations since June 19 in support of their eight-point demands.

2) The non-executive workforce includes train operators, station controllers, operations and maintenance staff and technicians, and form a major component in the operation of the rapid rail network.

3) The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Staff Council had given a call to all members to join the agitation but not all have participated in the stir. "Our first demand is that 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," said the council's secretary, Ravi Bhardwaj.

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4) "If our demands are not met by June 29, 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," Mr Bhardwaj said. "Even then if our voices are not heard by DMRC authorities, we will completely stop work from June 30," he insisted.

5) Other demands of some of the council members include issue of proper guidelines for sacking of an employee and that too in extreme conditions. The council said the demands have been sent to Delhi Metro authorities and Union Urban Affairs Ministry. (With PTI Inputs)