Passengers create ruckus at Tatanagar as SER cancels 72 trains due to Kurmi protest

Jamshedpur, April 5: Passengers at Tatanagar, Kharagpur, Howrah and other stations under South Eastern Railway jurisdiction faced a harrowing time when train services were disrupt following protest by activists from the Kurmi community since Wednesday morning. A lot of passengers also created ruckus at Tatanagar railway station. People could be seen sitting wherever they found a place to lie down amidst a long wait for their trains. Several sat on the platform while many found a place next to the ticket counters.

Demanding inclusion in Schedule Tribe (ST) category, activists began protest at Kustaur Station in Adra – Chandil section of Adra Division and Khemasuli station in Kharagpur-Tatanagar section of Kharagpur Division from 5 am on Wednesday. The activists have announced indefinite strike.  

72 trains were cancelled and several were short terminated on April 5 due to protest that turned the journey of several passengers into a nightmarish experience.

South Eastern Railway has also decided to cancel 78 trains on Thursday, April 6.

The cancellations led to a massive rush in most of the stations in the busy Howrah-Mumbai section on Wednesday.

The agitators squatted on the tracks since early morning demanding Schedule Tribe status and inclusion of Kurmi in Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. The protestors also put up a blockade on the National Highways resulting in inconvenience for commuters.

Apart from this, some Mail/Express Trains are running on diverted routes. Passengers were seen protesting at several railway stations. The anger of the passengers was quelled when the full amount of their ticket was refunded.

On the other hand, the people of Kurmi community have made it clear that just as the Kurmi community had ST status at the time of undivided Bihar, similarly they should be given ST status in Jharkhand. Along with this, there is a demand from the Bengal and Odisha governments to include the Kurmi community in the ST.

Sources said senior railway officials were camping at the site of the agitations and are coordinating with the state government.

SER officials said never before had such agitation extended for so long. The ‘rail roko’ agitation resulted in a loss to the tune of several crores to the railways.

Located on the Howrah-Mumbai main route Tatanagar is an important station. Several important trains travel via Tatanagar, including the high-profile Rajdhani Express and Duronto Express. The station sees a daily traffic of 90 mail, express and passenger trains, besides a footfall of more than 60,000 passengers.