Unions blame outsourcing for Metro Rail disruptions

The allegation has come two days after an overhead electric cable snapped and affected the Metro Rail operations between Nanganallur and Chennai Airport on Tuesday night.

“CMRL is appointing temporary employees in permanent posts which require more expertise. The move is against the law,” A Soundararajan, CITU president, said in a statement.

He also pointed out that CMRL had appointed employees based on a written exam, an interview and medical fitness tests. They were also given familiarisation training in Delhi Metro Rail.

Traction department should maintain overhead electric cables and the maintenance should be done periodically. “But the work has been outsourced. This caused the snap on Tuesday,” he added.

Similarly, on Wednesday, a transformer in a Metro station exploded due to the poor maintenance by contract employees. Even, CMRL is appointing loco pilots to drive Metro Rail on a contract basis, he said. “Industrial safety director should intervene in the issue and take action to stop the CMRL from appointing contract workers in sensitive jobs,” he urged.

CMRL, Tuesday night, was forced to arrange vehicles to transport passengers travelling between Nanganallur Metro Rail station and Chennai Airport station.

Of late, CMRL has been entangled in employees’ issues that disrupt services. Following the CMRL terminating some employees during the first week of May, employees staged a flash protest demanding their reinstatement.