Kozhikode: Kozhikode native E. Suresh Kumar, 59, has been running from pillar to post for the last 30 years to get justice from the Indian Railways. After working as a casual labourer as a Mappila Khalasi for 962 days at Hassan under the then Southern Railway Mysore division (now South-Western Railway) for two terms (1978-1980 and 1980-1981), he was eligible to be absorbed as a regular employee. But the railway rejected his claim despite a favourable ruling from the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), State Humans Rights Commission (SHRC) and the Supreme Court. He had also approached the local MP and the prime minister, but nothing has happened.
The Supreme Court ordered in 1987 that retrenched casual labourers were entitled to be re-engaged provided they complied with certain criteria, including service period and number of days worked.
"I am eligible to be absorbed with effect from 1990. Even those who are junior to me were appointed by the railways. But they have withheld a decision in my case even after 30 years," alleged Suresh Kumar.
"The then general manager in a letter in 1994 had confirmed that my name was in the supplementary live register and that I would be considered for employment when my turn came," he says.
He approached the CAT in 1995 which ordered the railway to include his name in the labour live register. If any person junior to him was already re-engaged,
Suresh Kumar was entitled for re-engagement within three months from the date of the order.
After exchanging a series of letters, the railway rejected his claim in 2015 saying that he had crossed the age limit of 40 in 2000.
"The CAT order came when I was 37 but they didn't absorb me as per the order. After not implementing the order for years, they are now saying that I have crossed the age limit," laments Kumar.
Though the Chennai headquarters of the railway recommended to take up Kumar's case with the Hubli general manager, there has been no action.
Kumar, who hails from Cheruvannur near Feroke, is surviving on temporary jobs like security guard.
