NEW DELHI — As thousands of railway porters (coolies) across the country face mounting job insecurity due to the Modi Government’s privatisation of porter services, senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh has pledged to take up their cause in the ongoing Parliament session.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Singh condemned the union government’s apathy towards the community and accused it of pushing some of the country’s most visible yet vulnerable workers into deeper distress. “Ever since there have been railway stations, there have been porters carrying people’s burdens,” Singh said. “But the Modi government has handed over even their work to private contractors, leaving thousands jobless and desperate.”
Singh was joined by porters and leaders of the Rashtriya Coolie Morcha, including its national convenor Ram Suresh Yadav, as he called for an immediate reversal of the privatisation policy and a revival of the 2008 pro-worker initiative launched by then Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.
“Privatisation has robbed these workers of their dignity and livelihood,” Singh said. “I’ve raised this issue several times in Parliament, but the government continues to ignore their plight. I will now raise their voice even more forcefully.”
During the UPA era, Lalu Prasad Yadav had introduced a scheme to formally induct porters into the Indian Railways, under which around 22,000 porters were given employment. Singh noted that nearly 20,000 more are still awaiting jobs under the same policy. He added that the Centre’s decision to privatise porter operations has left workers without any stable source of income or benefits.
“Earlier, they had at least some earning through the ‘Coolie My App’. Now, even that has vanished. With no government jobs and barely any private work, porters are on the brink of starvation,” Singh warned. “I will not just speak in Parliament — if these workers choose to protest at Jantar Mantar or elsewhere, I will stand with them shoulder to shoulder.”
Broken Promises, Vanishing Livelihoods
Ram Suresh Yadav of the Rashtriya Coolie Morcha echoed Singh’s concerns, accusing the government of betraying its promises. “In the last Parliament session, when Sanjay Singh raised this issue, the Railway Minister claimed that porters were being provided with education, healthcare, uniforms, drinking water, and rest houses. But none of this exists at any railway station,” Yadav said.
He pointed out that despite Railway Board directives, these basic amenities remain undelivered. “Even if these benefits are eventually provided, what good are they if the work itself has been outsourced to private firms? Private companies will hire their own people, leaving the existing coolies with nothing,” Yadav said.
“We demand full implementation of the 2008 policy,” he added. “Every porter should either be absorbed into the Railways or their children given employment, as was originally promised.”
Yadav also rejected the argument that porters are no longer needed due to the advent of escalators and lifts. “Our work hasn’t reduced. The need is still there, but the government has simply handed over the system to private hands for profit,” he said.
AAP’s Stand
The party said it stands in complete solidarity with the porter community and called on the union government to immediately halt the privatisation of porter services.
“The Indian Railways was built on the backs of workers like coolies. Denying them jobs and dignity is not only inhumane — it’s unpatriotic,” Sanjay Singh said. “We will not allow this issue to be buried under bureaucratic silence. Justice for India’s porters must become a national priority.”
