Female Locomotive Pilots in Salem Rail Division Face Discrimination Over Maternity and Childcare Leave

The union has presented approximately twelve cases where performance ratings have been downgraded.

Ernakulam:

Female locomotive pilots in the Salem railway division who utilized maternity or childcare leave received "below average" grades in their 2024-25 annual performance appraisal reports, effectively blocking their promotion prospects for three years, according to allegations from a pilots' union.

In correspondence to both the Southern Railway general manager and Salem's divisional railway manager, the union stated that while reporting officers initially graded these women as good or average, the reviewing officers subsequently lowered their ratings.

"The reviewing officer, either the divisional electrical engineer (goods) or senior divisional electrical engineer (operations), downgraded employees to 'below average' without documenting any disagreement with the reporting authority's assessment," claimed A Srinivas Bhatt, who serves as president of the All India Loco Running Staff Association's Salem division.

"This has eliminated their promotion opportunities for the next three years, as evaluations consider three years of APAR (annual performance appraisal report) grades before promotion decisions," Bhatt explained.

Union officials asserted that administrative overreach and continuous harassment of Salem division's locomotive staff are negatively impacting morale, career advancement opportunities, and operational safety standards.

"This practice contradicts established appraisal procedures," the letter contended.

"In numerous cases, employees taking maternity or childcare leave ranging from 240 to 365 days are receiving below average assessments in their annual performance reviews," the letter continued.

To highlight this issue, the union has documented approximately twelve cases of APAR downgrading.

The union reported that assistant locomotive pilot Mintu Jayapal received a below average grade for 2024-25 after taking 179 days of maternity leave, 56 days of childcare leave, and 129 days of sick leave.

"She was absent for 364 days during the 2024-25 assessment period. Her previous year's APAR rated her as 'average,' and she was graded as 'good' before that," the letter detailed.

The letter also mentioned that an appeal has been filed with the additional divisional railway manager.

In another case involving assistant locomotive pilot Anju Joy, the union alleged she was rated "below average" for 2024-25 after taking 180 days of maternity leave and 59 days of childcare leave, totaling 239 days.

Additionally, the union has reported several other unfair practices, including administrative actions against locomotive pilots on trivial grounds, unsafe working conditions for female locomotive pilots, and denial of legitimate leave requests, among other issues.