BELAGAVI
Two women employees at the Vasco railway station have received praise from the South Western Railways (SWR) for their tireless and selfless services during the second wave of the Covid pandemic.
Hima Bindu and Sharmila C may not have been honoured or identified as Covid frontline warriors, but their commendable work has helped thousands of people, especially from North India, in reaching their destinations.
Bindu works as an enquiry and reservation supervisor while Sharmila has been serving at the ticket window.
“Both of them have worked tirelessly when thousands of laborers and others left Goa for their respective towns across the nation. Both of them have been contributing extra work to manage the duty,” SWR Chief PRO Aneesh Hegde told The Goan.
“Bindu has done commendable work when the Public Reservation System (PRS) office was temporarily shifted to the booking office from April 3 to April 23.”
SWR ran two additional summer special trains from Vasco to Danapur and from Vasco to Howrah and Yesvantpur to clear the extra rush of passengers. “When other staff of the office tasted positive for Covid, Bindu managed their duty alone, charting, accounting, etc. from April 3 to April 23 without availing weekly rest. They even sacrificed time from their respective families while imparting their duties.”
“Generally, the booking office staff manages one counter on a shift basis, i.e. from 8 am to 2 pm and from 2 pm to 10 pm. But Bindu worked in the general shift from 8 am to 5 pm and beyond without taking a break. In normal circumstances, this work is managed exclusively by the supervisor,” Hegde said.
He added that in addition to above reservation staff, Sharmila C also worked tirelessly to clear the extra rush of PRS in addition to her Unreserved Ticket System (UTS) duty of issuing tickets for passengers train and PF tickets.
“As these railway officials performed their duty honestly with devotion braving the Covid threat, their devotion and sincerity of both these women during Covid -19 pandemic is praiseworthy and appreciated across the entire Hubballi Division and beyond,” acknowledged Hegde.
