Nagpur: A senior loco pilot with the Nagpur division of South East Central Railway (SECR), who was suspended allegedly for daring to raise Covid-related safety issues with the senior officials, has offered raw honey to his boss as a gift to boost immunity in the fight against coronavirus.
The sarcastic letter was written by mail/express loco pilot KC Pradhan on November 6 to his boss, senior divisional electrical engineer (SrDEE) for operations Kunal Kapoor, who suspended him effective from October 30, by issuing a suspension letter on November 2.
Though no reasons have been specified for Pradhan’s suspension, the loco pilot, who has completed 30 years of accident-free service, has written in his letter that he will be “happy to be kept under suspension till retirement”. Pradhan confirmed to have written the letter, which went viral on social media, on November 6.
Pradhan suspects the action is for raising his voice against lack of preventive measures by the railways during Covid-19 by sanitizing loco cabs at each crew changing point and various touchpoints. He thinks his suspension may be due to a 17 minute-delay to Vidarbha Express at Nagpur, during his last trip to Gondia.
“Suspension is not new to me and on several occasions, officials have even sent GRP and RPF personnel to arrest me on duty, but I was found clean every time. This is an attempt to remove employees who have completed over 30 years of service by falsely implicating them,” the loco pilot added.
Alleging unsafe practices at the workplace, Pradhan has survived coronavirus and was isolating from September 1 to 14. Due to negligence by railway doctors at SECR’s polyclinic, he said, the virus affected his family members and landlord.
“You may not care for my health during the Covid-19 pandemic but I’m concerned about you and hence want to gift you raw honey to boost your immunity,” said Pradhan’s letter to Kapoor.
Kapoor refused to talk to TOI. Senior divisional commercial manager (SrDCM) Vikas Kashyap confirmed Pradhan has been suspended. “I don’t know the reasons behind it. It is an inter-departmental confidential matter. I’m here to tell positive developments.”
Pradhan alleged senior officials have not come out of the British era mentality and there was no democracy in the system. “Loco pilots are not allowed to perform according to what they learn during training. They are being treated like whipping horses to score brownie points,” he said.
Raising safety issues, Pradhan said, “I’ve demanded powerful headlights for the locos which can cover visibility up to 750 metres during the night. Presently, the visibility is 150-200 metres only, which is dangerous. When the train moves at 110 kmph it is difficult to judge impediments on the track.”