Kochi: In a relief to hundreds of railway staff working in the central region of the Trivandrum division, the Southern Railway Headquarters has cleared the proposal for re-starting the referral hospital facility for treatment of staff, after a gap of three years. “We presented a memorandum to railway minister Sadananda Gowda the other day. He immediately checked up the progress with Southern Railway general manager Rakesh Misra asking that the facility be extended in all regions in the division where currently it is not available,” said P. Unnikrishnan, divisional president, Southern Railway Mazdoor Union.
Misra informed the railway minister that he had cleared the file for final nod from the railway board and in Ernakulam, ‘Lakshmi Hospital’ would be selected as the referral hospital. The proposal had earlier been rejected at the headquarters-level after railways rejected the treatment rate proposed by the hospital. Under the facility, the staff would be given free treatment and the cost would be settled between railways and the hospital.
In another good news for personnel working in marshalling yards and isolated places, Southern Railway has issued an order including snakebite in the injury on duty (IoD) list. “So far, snake bite was not considered a mishap and, hence, the affected personnel had to spend from his pocket for treatment. Now, railways had included it in the IoD list and, hence, the personnel will get reimbursement,” said Unnikrishnan.
