LAHORE, March 1: The station masters of the Pakistan Railways have deferred for another day their plan to submit en bloc resignations after holding talks with the high-ups of the organisation.

“We gave a second thought to our decision after a positive response from the railway administration,” station masters’ association (Samparas) patron Chaudhry Muhammad Din told newsmen at the PR headquarters here on Thursday.

A delegation of the association would be meeting Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmad in Islamabad on Friday, Mr Din said.

During the talks, the railways administration informed the representatives of station masters (SMs) and assistant station masters (ASMs) that a summary for the acceptance of their demands had been submitted to the railways ministry and all their grievances would be redressed.

“But we have categorically informed the administration that if an assurance will not be given in black and white regarding acceptance of the demands, we will not withdraw our decision to submit resignations,” said Mr Din who added that it had been the stance of the association from the very first day that the SMs and ASMs had been ignored, though they belonged to the operational staff that fell in essential category.

Headed by patron Chaudhry Muhammad Din, the association delegation comprised secretary-general Younis Bhatti and officials Kafil Ahmad, Chaudhry Hanif, Mukhtar Ahmad and M Rauf while the railways was represented by General Manager (Operations) Asad Saeed, Chief Operating Officer Maqsood Ahmad Khan and Additional General Manager (Freight) Gulraiz Hashmi during the talks that lasted for over two hours.

Earlier, the security personnel denied entry to the association representatives by locking the doors of gates that open towards the A block of the headquarters. The doors were opened after 20 minutes when the matter was brought into the knowledge of the GM (operations).

The association representatives were given free passes and they left for Rawalpindi by Khyber Mail.