People's Democracy

Laloo Yadav Promises Relief To Local Train Travellers

Shailendra Kamble

ON the initative of the Maharashtra unit of  DYFI, a meeting was held on February 22, with the railway minister, Laloo Prasad Yadav on the issue of improvement of local train services in Mumbai's Dahisar-Virar belt.

The meeting came in the background of the one and a half year movement on this issue, the highlight of which was the December 10, 2005 rail satyagraha that saw the work of quadrupling the Borivili-Dahisar-Virar belt being speeded up. Now the railway minister himself has given assurance to provide relief measures in the form of Andheri-Virar shuttles.

The six-member delegation representing the Pravas Adhikar Andolan Samiti, from Mumbai was given assurance by the minister that he would issue the necessary directives to start new Andheri-Virar shuttle service in order to reduce severe crowding in Virar locals.  He also promised that Borivili-Virar track quadrupling will not be slowed down.

The delegation was led by DYFI state secretary Shailendra Kamble, and included Prabhakar Shetty, Babban Swami (Bhayandar), T Venugopal, Datta Nar (both from Vasai) and Babu Rao Shinde (MiraRoad). The delegation submitted a memorandum to the minister with more than one lakh signatures of the people in Dahisar-Virar belt.

Rail Satyagraha

More than 30,000 people had participated in the rail satyagraha at the call of  74 organisations. In Nallasopara, the police had resorted to lathicharge and teargas shelling against peaceful protesters injuring several of them.  Twenty-eight people including leading DYFI activists were arrested and 25 of them were held at Thane Central Jail for 12 days and later released them on bail.  The Samiti has taken up the demand with R R Patil, deputy chief minister of Maharashtra for withdrawing the cases against them

The trauma of travelling in local trains is experienced daily by huge number of people living in Mumbai's extended western suburbs. The initiative for this movement was taken by the DYFI with the aim of providing relief to the people.

The Andolan Samiti will follow up with the railway minister to ensure that the promises given by him to the delegation are met. At the same time, the pressure of popular mobilisation will also be kept up. The agitational programmes already under way would continue as decided till the promised shuttle services actually hit the tracks.