Coolies at Raipur Railway Station on Monday staged a demonstration against the Parcel Contractor while alleging that the work of loading and unloading of parcels from the trains had been given on contract basis while leaving them to fend for themselves.
The coolies staged a similar protest against the Parcel Contractor a month ago after which the contractor had approached the court. However, when the Contractor resumed his work on Monday , the coolies re-launched their protest. As a result of the protest, the departure time of Bilaspur-Ernakulam Express was delayed by around half-an-hour from the station. The coolies say the parcel contractor had employed his own workers for loading and unloading of parcels from the trains. This takes away a sizable amount of work from the coolies.
Coolies cannot depend on earnings from passengers alone. Income of coolies has dropped considerably after the work of loading and loading of parcels in the trains had been given to the Contractor, according to president of Raipur Station Coolie Union Gyan Prakash Sahu. On the other hand, the parcel contractor has accused coolies of threatening and engaging in a scuffle with him. Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police were deployed at the station during the protest.