LAHORE, Oct 19: With the retired workers’ protest against non-payment of pension entering its 19th day on Wednesday, most serving employees of the Pakistan Railways in Lahore could not get salaries for September.

Carrying pension books and cheques that were not honoured, the elderly former workers of railways held a demonstration in front of the PR headquarters for two hours.

They condemned the treatment meted out by the railway administration to its retired workers who served the organisation for decades.

A number of pensioners told Dawn they had not been paid for the last two to three months and were on the verge of starvation.

Later, with the help of some serving PR workers who too were not paid, the retired employees burnt used tyres at the main gate of railway headquarters.

Expressing solidarity with the pensioners, Railway Mazdoor Ittehad leader Inayat Gujjar said the PR Lahore Division authorities did not fulfil their pledge to pay salaries and pension to all by Wednesday.

“The railway administration has paid salaries only to its employees working at the PR headquarters and rest of the workers have again been asked to wait till Thursday. We will resume our protest if payment was not made by Thursday noon,” said Gujjar.

prem UNION: The Pakistan Railways Employees Prem Union has urged Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to take suo motu notice of the ‘ongoing corruption’ in the PR.

“In fact, Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, former chairman Samiul Haq Khilji, corrupt and dishonest officers are responsible for railways downfall,” Union Central President Hafiz Salman Butt said at a news conference at Lahore Railway Station on Wednesday.

Demanding immediate sacking of the minister and the corrupt officers, the union president urged the chief justice to set up a judicial commission to find causes of railways’ downfall and fix responsibility.

Spelling out the future course of action, Mr Butt said after consultation with all the registered unions of railways, proposals would be formulated for the revival of the organisation and discussed at seminars in Lahore on Oct 31, Karachi on Nov 1 and Islamabad on Nov 3.

The proposals would be submitted to the railways high-ups and government. Rail workers from all over the country would participate in a sit-in at railways headquarters on Nov 17. “In case, no action is taken on the proposals within 15 days, some 50,000 workers would begin a march towards Islamabad where they will stage a sit-in till acceptance of demands. Either the rulers will go home or we will be in prison,” he said.

The ongoing crises had been created deliberately to deprive the nation of an organisation that had been the backbone in the economics of the country. “It is not a technical issue. It is a matter of incompetence, dishonesty and anti-poor mindset of the rulers,” he said.

According to standard operating procedure, railways should have at least 10-day fuel in reserve to cope with any natural calamity or war. Owing to mismanagement, at times railways did not have fuel even for operating trains for 24 hours.

Corrupt railway officers were creating hurdles in the rehabilitation of locomotives. Some 100 or so locomotives lying idle at sheds could be made operational. The government should first get rid of the corrupt and dishonest elements and then fulfil its promise to release Rs13 billion running expenditure mentioned in the railway budget for 2011-12 fiscal.

Mr Butt said by Nov 6, railways would require Rs5 billion to pay salary for two months and pension up to three months. “A sum of Rs1.75 billion is required to pay one-month salary and pension but so far only Rs1 billion have been released for the purpose.

“The employees regularly pay their utility bills to the railway department concerned but it is the railway administration that had not cleared the arrears of gas and electricity companies, resulting in the suspension of supply not only to railway stations but also to 70 per cent colonies in several cities and towns across the country. Power and gas supply to the remaining stations will be cut off in a couple of days as ultimatum has already been given by the companies concerned in this regard,” he said.