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Coolie

This is a community well known by every individual who travelled by train even once. It is a familiar figure clothed in red that sees us off and receives us after a long and tiring journey. They are the ones on whose head and shoulders rest our bag and baggage, while we continuously walk from one platform to another. This is referred to “The coolie” or “The Porter”.

There is no Pattern or way i followed to reach to this community. It's just clicked in the mind and i went about it. First i visited nearby railway stations of Gandhinagar and Sabarmati but did not find any coolie there.Then i finally moved to kalupur i.e. Ahemdabad railway station. I reached around 1100 hrs. There is a place outside the railway station for coolies to sit, rest, a chat. This place is made under the authority of railway coolie association. I met a group of 4 coolies who were relaxing. Two of them were reading newspapers, some taxi drivers were also their chatting with them. I went to them and started some conversation.

From them i got to know that most of the coolie’s are basically from small districts and towns of Rajasthan for e.g. Bharatpur, Gangapur city, Sawai Madhopur etc. The work of a coolie is very laborious & fatiguing. To become a coolie one’s need to be physically fit. The person having any diseases like bronchitis, heart related etc. is not eligible for the job. The minimum age required for this profession is 18 – 21. New entrants have to gone through certain processes like medical examination done by doctors. Also a Police verification by RPF (Railway protection force) & GRPF (Government Railway Police Force) to assure that the person is not having any criminal records. Security on railway is broadly shared by 3 different agencies 1.RPF, 2.GRPF, 3.DISTRICT POLICE.

After the entrance they get a golden arm badge with license number inscribed. They get one pair of red colour uniform for summer and winter. Although they have been serving the train passenger ever since the origin of the Indian Railway, licensed porters even today are not Railway employees. They do not follow any work timings. It is solely depends on them how much they can or they want to work in a particular day. There is no particular rates on which they charge any customer, sometimes customer gives them Rs.10 – 20 extra and sometimes he/she doesn’t agree upon the right amount even.

There is a waiting room or resting room provided to them at the last platform no. 12 where they can relax, take a nap. This waiting room is mainly used by those coolies who are unmarried or living alone. The coolies who are having families usually stay at places like narol, batua etc. where they get affordable accommodation. Some unmarried coolies make a group of 4-5 and take a rented room near railway station. They usually eat out at the dhabhas near to the station. They have a union i.e. Railway Coolie Association which take care of the issues related to their community. There is a amount they have to pay for the association i.e. Rs.60 per year.

As noticeable this community of workers literally thrives on load, making a living out of hard physical labour. Still there are coolies of aged 60 years & above. According to them there is no age limit for a porter, they can work till they die. One option for them is to transfer their license to their son or anyone they want. They are facing problems in the transferring.

i need to get more information for understanding to the core.You all are well come to comment.

Thank you