Saved CST, claim CRMS strikers

Mumbai: The Central Railway Mazdoor Sangh (CRMS) on Monday claimed that the 28-day hunger strike by its members led to the ‘saving’ of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) iconic building — a World Heritage site — from conversion into a museum.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had turned down a proposal of Union railway minister Piyush Goyal to convert the station into the museum.

Speaking to The Asian Age, CRMS president R.P. Bhatanagar said that the scrapping of the proposal was the victory of the strike, which begun on March 8. The hunger strike was called-off on April 3 after a meeting with railway officials in New Delhi following their assurance to consider the demands.

“The decision of Railway minister was arbitrary. We have been opposing the plan as the railway workers have an emotional attachment to this building. In fact, the railway would have been forced to spend `1,500 crore on a new general manager's office and the Central Railway’s headquarters,” he said.

The CRMS members on Monday celebrated the ‘victory’ with dance and distribution of sweets at CST. When asked about the scrapping of the conversion plan, Central Railway officials, however, said that there was no formal communication about the scrapping of the project. The Central Railway spokesperson declined to comment

From November last year, the CRMS began opposing the Railway minister’s proposal to convert the World Heritage site into the museum. The CRMS is affiliated to the National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR). The NFIR had sent a letter to the chairman of the Railway Board opposing the museum proposal on December 8. In addition, the CRMS also wrote a letter to the Railway authorities echoing the same sentiment.