Goa train ticket checkers strike work for two hours

PANAJI - Over 50 ticket checkers and commercial clerks attached to the Konkan Railway (KR) went on a flash strike Wednesday evening, triggering confusion at three major railway stations in Goa for about two hours.

According to a KR spokesperson, the Margao-Mumbai Konkan-Kanya train had to depart from Margao station without any ticket checkers on board.

Speaking to IANS, the spokesperson Baban Ghatge said the strike lasted for two hours.

Thirty-four ticket checkers (passenger assistants) and 19 commercial assistants went on a flash strike from 4.30 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. They were protesting their transfers out of Goa which were affected by our headquarters in Mumbai four days ago, Ghatge said.

Ghatge said that several of the striking employees had been posted in Goa for over 12 years, while as per central government regulations no employee working in sensitive positions, where cash transactions are conducted, should be posted at one place for more than four years.

Only one train was affected by the strike. The Mumbai-bound Konkan Kanya train had to leave Margao station without a ticket checker, Ghatge said.

–Indo Asian News Service