REPORT OF 96th ANNUAL CONVENTION OF WREU

REPORT OF 96^th ANNUAL CONVENTION OF WREU

 The 96^th Annual General Meeting of Western Railway Employees’ Union was held at Devbhumi Dwarka, Rajkot Division, from 17^th to 19^th September, 2016.

Open Session

The Open Session was held in the spacious hall of Ahir Samaj Wadi, Dwarka on 17^th September, 2016, presided by Com. R. C. Sharma, President/WREU. Com. Rakhal Dasgupta, President/AIRF, Com. Harbhajan Singh Siddhu, General Secretary/HMS, Mahant Swami Narayan Nand Brahmchari of Sharda Peeth, Dwarka, Mahant Chandraprkash Dasji of Swaminarayan Samprdaya, Shri G. C. Agrawal, General Manager, Western Railway, Smt. Anuradha Mukhedkar, DRM, Rajkot and Smt. S. Kademani, CPO (Const) jointly inaugurated the Open Session by lighting lamp. In his inaugural speech, Com. Rakhaldas Gupta expressed his concern on the slow pace of functioning of the various committees appointed to review the recommendations of Seventh CPC and appealed the railwaymen to be vigilant on the attitude of the Government and  be prepared to launch strong and effective agitation if need arise.

Mahant Chandraprkash Dasji of Dwarka in his speech emphasized the role of the union to protect the rights of the workers and characteristic of a good union.  He also mentioned about the role of its leadership and the cadres for good and successful functioning.

Com. Harbhajan Singh Sidhhu while addressing the Conference criticized the approach of the Central Government in allowing 100% FDI and PPP in Indian Railways and informed that HMS and other Central Trade Unions strongly oppose pro-privatization policies. He demanded not to amend labour laws which will adversely affect the rights of working class and to accept the 11 point Charter of Demands of 11 CTUs.

Shri G. C. Agrawal, General Manager expressed his happiness on grand and successful conduct of the Open Session.  He stated that WREU leadership is very matured, dedicated, learned and sincere in their activities.  He highly appreciated Com. J. R. Bhosale, General Secretary, being a thorough gentleman and very good human being.  He stated that Com. Bhosale not only raises the issues but also bring the solution, which helps the administration in its early redressal.  As regard the use of new techniques and increase in general awareness, we have to keep humanitarian factors in mind and financial crunch while taking the decisions for maintaining safety, punctuality and for improving productivity of Western Railway, he stated. As regard compassionate ground appointment cases, General Manager stated that he is seeing each case on Union’s point of view and as far as possible he always try to grant appointment to wards but he cannot ignore his official duties and boundaries while doing so.  He congratulated WREU and wished all success for the Convention and good conduct of WREU activities.

Smt. Anuradha Mukhedkar, DRM-RJT, also congratulated WREU for its successful conduct of the Annual Convention.  She stated Customers’ Satisfaction is our moto and appreciated the constructive role of the union in solving the staff grievances. Smt. Kademadi, CPO(C), Western Railway, thanked WREU and gave good wishes for the 96^th Annual Convention.

Hon’ble Member of Parliament from Jamnagar, Ms. Poonamben, highly appreciated the good services of the Western Railway to the passengers and congratulated Shri G. C. Agarwal, General Manager, for the best performance of Western Railway and providing maximum facilities to its customers. She also thanked WREU and requested the General Secretary to give a detailed note on the Railwaymen’s grievances to her so as to forward the same it to the Railway Minister and the Prime Minister of India. Smt. Nilaben Upadhyay, Mayor of Dwarka also thanked and conveyed good wishes for the convention.

Thereafter, Com. Rakhal Dasgupta and Shri G. C. Agrawal jointly released a beautiful Souvenir published on this occasion.

Delegate Session 

The Delegate Session was held at the same venue on 18^th September, 2016, which started from 10.30 hours.  Com. R. C. Sharma, President/WREU, was in chair.  Prior to start of the proceedings, all the delegates paid tribute to Late Com. Umraomal Purohit, Maniben Kara, G. B. Sukhi, C.S. Menon, Jagdish Ajmera. After paying homage to the comrades who left for heavenly abode since last AGM, especially Com. Sharad Rao, Chief Advisor, HMS, and observing two minutes silence, Com. Bhosale placed the General Secretary’s Report followed by Accounts and proposal of appointment of Auditors for the year 2016 by the Treasurer.  While submitting his report, he narrated complete details of the agitations on Western Railway since last AGM as per the directives of NJCA and AIRF.  He further narrated activities of WREU including Youth, Women Wing, Educational & Non-bargaining activities and also all major achievements during the period as a result of negotiations through JCM, DC-JCM, PNM meetings of AIRF with Railway Board and WREU with GM at zonal level and also Informal meetings with CPO,  etc.  He thanked one and all for their total cooperation and support during the entire period, especially for Enrollment of membership, collection of grievances and wide publicity of all activities.

Thereafter, following 3 Resolutions – (1) Charter of Demands (Proposed by Com. Santosh Pawar and Seconded by Com. H. S. Pal), (2) Maintenance of Railway Quarters and Colonies (Proposed by Com. Prashant Kanade and Seconded by Com. Sanjay Kapoor) and (3) Constitutional Amendment (Proposed by Com. S. B. Shrivastava and Seconded by Com. P. B. Bhargava) were moved. The Annual Subscription Fee was raised from Rs.300 to Rs.500.

22 delegates participated in the deliberations, viz. S/Shri Vivek Kamble, Ravikant Singh, Rajnish Shrivastav, Manoj Zha, Bharat Mackwana, Ghanashyam Yadav, Perin Sophiya Harsh, Abhishek Bhargava, Nirala, Vinod Kumar Mourya, Abhishek Bhargava, Manohar Pachori, Manoj Pandey,  Rakesh Mishra, Geeta Pandoria and Vishal  Kamble.  Com. Bhosale while replying the debate clarified the doubts on some of the issues related to pending demands.  He mentioned about the Restructuring of Track Maintainers and Technicians with the efforts of AIRF/WREU and merger of TC, ECRC & ACC.  He stated that he raised the issue of adoption of base index 260.46 for computation of Dearness Allowance, so that Central Government employees would get 3% D.A. instead of 2% and  Secretary (Staff Side) NC-JCM) had already taken up this matter with Finance Ministry.  After deliberations, General Secretary’s Report was adopted, Accounts for year ending 31.12.2015 was unanimously passed.  M/s. Ashok Dalal & Co., Chartered Accountant, was appointed as Auditors for next year. After thorough deliberations, all the 3 resolutions were unanimously passed.  The Convention honoured Com. Govind Lal Sharma and Com. V.K. Sharma, who relinquished their posts as Assistant General Secretary and Vice President respectively of WREU, and highly appreciated the selfless services rendered by them during their working in the Union in different portfolios.

Election

Com. H. R. Dholakiya, Ex Vice President & Election Officer declared the nominations received and following office bearers are unanimously elected as Central Office bearers of WREU.

Com. R. C. Sharma, Com. J. R. Bhosale and Com. R. P. Gupta as honorary members. S/Shri R. C. Sharma – President, Mahesh Chhaya, Shaikh Nasir, Ajayraj Singh Gohil and Smt. Seema Kaushik – Vice Presidents;  J. R. Bhosale – General Secretary; R. P. Gupta, P. B. Bhargava, Santosh Pawar, Prashant Kanade and Smt. Sophiya S. K. Harsh  – Assistant General Secretaries and Vikas Gupte as Treasurer.

The Convention constituted an Election Tribunal comprising of Com. Prakash Savalkar, Divisional Chairman, WREU-BCT as its Convener and Shri L. R. Ajmera, retired CLI & Advocate and Smt. Sadhana Trivedi, Divisional Chairman, WREU-BRC as its members.

Com. President and General Secretary in their concluding remarks thanked all the guests, well-wishers, decorators, caterers, print & electronic media and Ahirwadi Trust administration.  They also thanked Delegates, Visitors and WREU activists for their active participation and co-operation. The Convention also thanked Western Railway administration in general and DRM-RJT and her team in particular for their full co-operation for successful conduct of the Annual Convention.  The Convention specially thanked Com. Mahesh Chhaya, Com. Nikhil Joshi, Com. Satish Ozha and Com. Narendrasingh Jadeja and their team of dedicated volunteers of Youth and Women Wings, office bearers and active workers of Okha and Rajkot Branches for their tireless service for making excellent arrangements for stay, travel and food for the delegates, visitors and WREU activists and for successful conduct of the Convention. The meeting was concluded with vote of thanks to the chair and shouting loud slogans – WREU-AIRF-HMS Zindabad – Kamgar Ekta Zindabad.