DMRC’s non-exec staff protest for pay hike

New Delhi: Demanding a pay hike, the Delhi Metro’s non-executive staff, including train operators and maintenance workers, launched a protest on Friday. The protesting staff, wearing black bands, gathered at stations across Delhi-NCR and raised slogans against the management in between their work shifts, staff council secretary Anil Kumar Mahato, who is leading the protests, said. There was no large-scale disruption in services. 

The protesting staffers also highlighted alleged financial irregularities in the organisation. 

Mr Mahato has threatened to escalate the agitation and enforce a “total shutdown” of Metro operations on July 24 if the DMRC does not pay heed to their “long-pending” demands, including cancellation of action initiated against him and his colleague Ravi Bhardwaj. 

“The DMRC management had called staff council members for a meeting on Thursday evening, but they did not turn up and demanded that instead the authorities should approach them. The non-executive staff includes train operators, maintenance staff, station controllers, customer relation assistants,” Mr Mahato said, adding that around 9,000 staff are participating in the ongoing agitation.