One of India’s oldest and world’s eighth-largest employer has finally decided to get rid of colonial ‘vestiges’ by changing the official nomenclature of lakhs of its workers. There are no jamadars and safaiwalas in the railways anymore. They will instead, now be called assistants and housekeeping assistants respectively.
Similarly, railway employees who were hitherto referred to as dhobis, chowkidars, hamals, bhistys, cleaners, khalasis, peons, cooks, waiters or even porters, will henceforth be called assistants, differentiated only by departments. For example, cooks and waiters are now assistants belonging to the Department of Catering; likewise, wash boys, chapati makers, tea/coffee makers, bearers and cleaners are assistants in the canteen.
The decision was taken last month after internal consensus by the Railway Board and has already come into effect. The recognised workers’ unions were also consulted in the process, as many workers felt that in the present times, the colonial designations were demeaning.
“There was dissatisfaction among workers. Many felt that some of these designations were demeaning in this day and age, while many were based on jobs that do not even exist… This is about dignity,” said Shiv Gopal Mishra, Secretary General, All Indian Railwaymen’s Federation, the largest union in the service.
Some of the aforementioned designations were as old as the organisation that was founded in 1853, irrespective of the fact that many specific jobs and the nature of the tasks have evolved over time. However, the only departments where the revised designations still identify the specific nature of the jobs are in track maintenance and safety. So, the designation of trolleyman will be Assistant (Trolley Operating), and Pointsman will remain Pointsman.
The Railway Board officials said that the designations of these Group D posts, which are now Level 1 posts, in the past were meant to be in sync with the nature of jobs involved, which was “a colonial hangover”.
“In any case, the entry-level pay bands of these profiles had been merged into a single band in the Sixth Pay Commission, which was again termed Level 1 in the Seventh Pay Commission. Workers had been demanding uniformity in designations,” said a Railway Board official.
However, the notification circulated by the Railway Board last month specified that the revision in designations will not entail a change in the existing duties and responsibilities, appointment procedure, pay level and prescribed eligibility conditions for the jobs.