Coming soon: toll-free number, app to address mental health issues of railway employees

New Delhi: A toll-free number and an application will be launched soon to address the mental health issues of railway employees, AIRF General Secretary Shiva Gopal Mishra said on Thursday.

The All India Railwaymen's Federation (AIRF), the largest railway association for employees of the national transporter, on Thursday identified 125 first responders across the country who will be the point persons in zonal railways for those employees who want to talk about mental stress.

The union also held a 'Wellbeing' seminar on mental health of employees on Thursday.

These responders have representatives from running staff of the railways, members of the International Transport Forum and Conveners of AIRF among others.

"For this, a toll-free number will also be started soon, through which we can also directly counsel the employees and their families. Soon, we will print posters and other awareness material.

"Today, when a railway employee goes to work, he goes with great joy, but when he comes back, he remains irritable, so it may be due to the working hours or because of problems at the workplace," Mishra said during the seminar.

He also said when the railway employees continued to work during the coronavirus pandemic, their entire family used to be upset, anticipating bad news every day.

"In such a situation, not only the railway employees but the whole family used to live under stress. There have been incidents like suicide in many places. This is the reason why the AIRF has decided that we will now also work on the mental health of the employees," he said.

Railway Board Chairman VK Tripathi said that while medicine is fine, it is important for railway workers to consider the causes of stress themselves.

"I believe that the work of a railway employee is very sensitive, so if he remains under any kind of stress, it will definitely affect his work. We also need to consider eliminating the causes of stress in advance, for this yoga and meditation should also be adopted," he said.