Nurungukal..contd....

  The success of Railways depend on its efficiency in time and space management. Other wise the whole network would have been in shambles. The enormity of the volume of traffic dealt each day is beyond the comprehension of any outsider. Even before the advent of modern gadgets the movements of trains and handling of passengers and goods were managed with utmost safety. This was because of the discipline it maintained in its human resource management. The hierarchy of power and duties was so water tight that any lapse attracted severe punishment in service and salary. The dress code is another example. It always made you conscious of your position.

  Coming back to Coimbatore goods yard life, I noticed that far beyond the procedures in dealing goods movements, there was a humane factor which even the administration was ignoring. It is about the roll played by a set of women who toiled day in and out to keep the premises clean and tidy. Each day many types of goods viz. Grains,pulses, fertiliser, cements,machinery etc and scores of other consumables were dealt. The spillage from them if not removed in time can cause hygienic problems. But the group of women who although find a living by gathering the spill over  materials were not in the rolls of the railways. Yet they were an inevitable part. From dawn to dusk they are on their duty collecting and cleaning and leave the premises with hand full of their days toil to make a living. Many of them were mothers. Their children will be in slumber in a cloth cradle hung on the branches of a rain tree unconcerned about the dirty and dusty atmosphere. Their elder ones would be playing in the shade to keep company. Education was their second priority. Occasionally the mother would feed them. I used to wonder  weather their emaciated body could produce enough milk or not ?. Some of them used to run errands for the staff for petty considerations. I have come across such a lot in every goods yard, even in kerala. I m not sure weather the conditions have changed now.......contd...