First phase of railway union elections held

Chennai, Nov 26 (UNI) Southern Railways today held elections by secret ballot to enable railway employees to select a union of their choice in the respective railway zonals and for granting recognition to union.

In Southern Railways alone, about one lakh employees would exercise their franchise in the secret ballot, being held in three phases.

The first phase of election was held in various locations, according to railway sources here.

This was the first election in the Indian Railways' 154 years history.

Unions including the Southern Railway Mazdhoor Union had launched an active campaign during the past two weeks, appealing to the employees to help them secure recognition and to protect their interests.

Some 2,000 polling booths were set up across the railway network during the three-day electoral process.

The polls, which would involve 1.4 million workers of the railways, would be held at the zonal level involving workers from all 16 railway zones, the sources added.

In Chennai, the elections would be held in ten locations including Chennai central railway station and Egmore station.

Additional railway police forces were posted for election duty, the sources added.

UNI