Coolie’s, contractual workers and shopkeepers at railway stations cheer resumption of rail services

Ludhiana: With the resumption of rail services in the state, the coolie’s at Railway Station Ludhiana have got a reason to cheer. As the rail services was earlier suspended due to Covid 19 pandemic and later due to farmers protests, the coolie’s were facing several financial hardships. But with the resumption of the rail services, the coolie’s as well as the contractual workers at the railway stations of district Ludhiana are hopeful that the recent developments would mean the end to their miseries.
With the resumption of train services in Punjab, the normalcy has returned at the Ludhiana railway station.
One of the contractual employees working at Railway Station Ludhiana, on the condition of anonymity, said that post Covid 19 pandemic, he used to earn Rs 7,000 per month. But when the rail services were halted due to the pandemic, the contractor halved their salaries, which led to several financial hardships for their families. He said that now that the rail services have started, they are hopeful that things would normalise soon.
Even the coolie’s at the Railway Station have finally got a reason to cheer for. They say that now that the rail services have resumed, they are hopeful to earn a decent living for their families. They said that some of them even opted for other labour intensive works during the Covid 19 pandemic as it had become very difficult for them to take care of their families.
The shopkeepers at Railway Station Ludhiana are hopeful that the rail services would once again boost their businesses. “We have been running small businesses from different platforms of Railway Station Ludhiana for the last several years. When the train service was disrupted, first due to the global Covid 19 pandemic and later because of farmers protests, their only source of livelihood was impacted. Now with the resumption of rail service, we are hopeful that it would benefit us all,” said Sushil Kumar, who owns a small shop.
The coolie’s, contractual workers and shopkeepers thanked the Punjab Government, especially the Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh for his tireless efforts and continued talks with the Union Government to restore the rail service.