Qulis at Lahore railway station have been left at the mercy of the contractors whose extortionist policies have pushed them to the wall

By Sajid Bashir:

The qulis at the railway station who run eagerly towards every train or passenger that arrives, to take the lugguage to its destination, are being badly exploited by the contractors who hire them.
As many as 660 porters are working on the Lahore Railway station. They are hired by contractors who get Rs 400 every month from each porter while the contractor has to pay Rs 50 to the railway authorities per porter he has hired at the railway station. Besides this, the porters or qulis complain that the contractor gets half of the money a quli receives from each passenger. This, the qulis see as exploitation of the worst order.
The porters say they are working at Lahore Railway station as prisoners work in jails. The Railway authorities should give them numbers directly but they have handed them over to cruel contractors.
On the other hand the porters have to carry the lugguage of railway authorities on daily basis and are not paid anything for that. If a porter refuses to do so then he is being kicked out from his job.
Lives of the porters working on the Lahore railway station are worse than other sections of the working class people in the country because they are deprived of all the basic facilities enjoyed by other citizens. They are not entitled to the privileges other workers of Pakistan Railways enjoy and have to bribe the authorities and the platform contractors on daily and monthly basis in order to earn their livelihood.
Majority of the porters complained that there is no relief for them and no facilities from Railway authorities. They say, "We came here to earn roti for our families but have failed to make ends meet. We are pawns in the hands of contractors. The contractors book porters in advance for trains that come from India and Karachi and we are not allowed to deal with any of the passengers from these trains." They allege that the contractors with the coordination of Railway officials reserve these trains before their arrival. When these trains arrive on the station only the railway officials and private persons take out the luggage from these trains.
Porters complain that Railway authorities treat them like criminals. "We are not allowed to sit in the waiting rooms, if one of us is found in these rooms at night the security staff kicks the person out and tortures him."
Porters say there is no place where they can go with their demands and complaints. Porters say that a sweeper has more privileges and authority than a porter and some time porters have to work on the orders of these sweepers.
Majority of the porters have demanded from the Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif to take immediate measures against their exploitation and for their betterment as he has taken bold steps elsewhere on many instances.
The Station Master Lahore, Abid told TNS that Railway authorities could not hire the porters directly due to the fear of theft, therefore the authorities give this responsibility to the contractors. He said, "we cannot mange all these porters and their records." On the other hand when asked about the contractors and their contact numbers he expressed his ignorance.
When contacted Divisional Superintendent Railway Mubeen-ud-Din told TNS that there were many reasons why the Railway authorities could not hire the porters directly. He said that contractors are being hired for the recruitment of these porters and in case of any theft the contractor would be responsible because the contractor knows very well about his porters. DS Railways said that the Railways made an agreement with the contractors in which every porter is bound to carry lugguage and charge nothing. The contractor instead is supposed to pay the porters for that. On a query about provision of basic facilities to these porters, he simply said 'no'. He said these people are not allowed to get any facility from Railways because they are hired privately.
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