employee problem
Due to the communal problem arising during the partition of the country, it was difficult for some employees of the Jodhpur Railway to leave Pakistan with their families. 600 such Hindu employees who were employed in Sindh province could not come to their work for some days due to difficulty in leaving Pakistan. When he returned to India, he was not hired by the Railways and after being suspended for 3 months decided to release him from service.
On this, the railway staff of Jodhpur sent a memorandum to the Prime Minister on 28 November 1947. The Prime Minister's Office sent this memorandum to the Ministry of Railways. Ministry of Railways informed the State Department that it is not able to do anything in this matter. The princely ministry had given clear instructions to the railway ministry that no direct correspondence should be made by the railway ministry with the states of Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner and Udaipur.
Similarly, the Jodhpur Employees Union submitted a memorandum to the State Department and demanded that this employees union should be recognized by the government. The salary and allowances of the employees should be increased as per the Pay Commission report. Dearness allowance should be increased. There should be library and club facilities for the workers. There should be a free hospital for workers and their families. The matter was sent by the princely department to the regional commissioner of Rajputana, Abu.
Clearance of property of Jodhpur Railway
Before independence, the Sindh region came under the Bombay Presidency of British India. In AD 1900, the Jodhpur Railway built a 133.40-mile long railway line from Balotra to the British border in the western border. On January 1, 1929, the Government of India purchased the sections related to Mirpur Khas from Sindh Light Railway Company Limited and handed over the Jodhpur Railway for management. In 1939, a 30.72-mile long railway line was laid from Khadru to Nawabshah by the Jodhpur Railway.
It was started on 29 November 1939. On December 31, 1942, the Government of India also bought a 49.50-mile long rail route from Mirpur Khas to Khadru from Sindh Light Railway and handed it over to the Jodhpur Railway, which increased the length of the British section of Jodhpur Railway to 318.74 miles. Rail operation on this route was done by Jodhpur Railway and all rolling stock belonged to Jodhpur Railway.
When the signs of the Sindh region going to Pakistan, the Chief Engineer of Jodhpur Railway at that time C.L. Kumar did the work of bringing railway-property lying in the warehouses of railway stations located in Sindh region and the offices of Construction Inspector and Track Inspector working there to Jodhpur with utmost efficiency and intelligence. Had this step not been taken in time, railway material worth lakhs of rupees would have remained in Pakistan.
The date of transfer of rolling stock of Jodhpur Railway was fixed on 31.07.1947, but a few days before this date, the Government of Pakistan forcibly stopped 6 engines, 75 coaches, 4 officers carriages and more than 300 wagons. Its value was estimated at Rs 17 lakh. Due to this the train service running between Jodhpur and Pakistan came to a standstill.
The Jodhpur government demanded from the Government of Pakistan that it should pay the withheld rolling stock and revenue of Rs 50 lakh to the Jodhpur State coming out of Pakistan and send its representative to Jodhpur to settle the matter, but the Government of Pakistan did not listen to the Government of Jodhpur. . Jai Narain Vyas, Prime Minister of Jodhpur State, spoke to the High Commissioner of India to Pakistan, Mr. Prakash. In the end, with the intervention of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Pakistan government decided to give 50 lakh rupees to the Jodhpur government.