Karachi
Porters working at the Karachi CantonmentStation will be no more seen in their signature red shirts and turbans.
Their new uniform - a green and yellow shalwar qameez created by a known fashion designer hired by thePakistan Railways just for the purpose -will soon be distributed among all porters working at the Karachi Cantt and other railway stations of the country.
“The new design will be a welcome change, and is part of a national-level effortto improve the working conditions of porters,” claimed Divisional Commercial Officer (DCO) of Pakistan Railways, Nasir Nazeer, while talking to The News on Tuesday.
Railway porters in Pakistan wear a signature red kurta over their clothes and top their look off with a red turban they use as padding when they hoist up heavy pieces of luggage on their heads. In fact, the signature red-kurta look of railway porters was also featured by a couple of prominent designers in advertisements for their lawn collection some years ago.
The will to improve working conditions for porters is a welcome move, but it remains to be seen how a branded uniform will help in achieving this goal.
Presently, the management of railways porters — called 'coolies'in Urdu — is outsourced to contractors who rake off 30 percent of every porter'sdaily wages.
“I have to pay 30 percent of whatever I earn to the contractor at the end of every day. That leaves very little for me and my family back in Punjab. There is no concept of paid leaves, medical facility or rest in this thankless profession,” muttered 75-year-old Imam Bux who has spent more than half of his life working as a railway porter. “I don’t know anything else so I will keep working till my health allows. But I do advise young porters who come here to get vocational training and work as skilled labour.”
Last week scores of porters also staged a protest at the Cantt Railway Station against paying up to Rs700 per day to the contractor, compelling the authorities to spring into action and decide to improve the working conditions of porters.
“People travelling on trains consider us an integral part of the railway system but to Pakistan Railway officials, we are ‘civilians’ and have no rights or privileges they grant their own employees. When one of us dies, nobody takes any notice as there is always somebody else available for replacement,” remarked Imam Bux, for whom the Cantt Station is another home. “The entire railway station is my home when I am here. I sleep wherever I want but I spend most of my time near the main entrance so I am easily spotted by passengers.”
The railway officials have realised the significance of porters’ services, claimed DCO Nazeer. “This is why we are also constructing a waiting room with fans, a water cooler, comfortable couches, indoor games and washrooms for porters so they could wait between their arduous works.
“Coolies are human beings and they too require some basic facilities with due dignity. Pakistan Railway has decided to treat them like its own employees,” said DCO Nazeer. “Moreover, porters who have worked continuously for six months will be entitled to 10 paid leaves with Rs500 per day. This way they will be entitled to 20 paid leaves per year.”
However, for medical treatment, directives had been issued to the contractors concerned and they will have to make arrangements for providing health facilities to their workers.
“Within a month, the people will see different porters who will welcome them in their new attires. The Cantt Railway Station will also have smart trolleys available for passengers who want to haul their own luggage. This is just the start...we will provide more facilities to our portersin the near future,” DCO Nazeer claimed.
However, for Imam Bux, experience has taught that words and empty promises come cheap and inabundance, which was whyhe confessed his scepticismovera single one of them beingfollowed through on.
“I have seen and endured far too much here. If they do provide us a place with fans and couches to rest in and bathrooms, I will pray for them till my last breath. But I don’t believe it will happen anytime soon,” he said.