CHENNAI, April 24, 2021: The Indian Railways is facing a staff crunch with the coronavirus spreading fast through its ranks — more than 93,000 employees have tested positive over the last few weeks.

The national transporter is rationalising its manpower to ensure its operations are not affected, particularly at a time when migrants are rushing home and it is expected to run dedicated oxygen-carrying trains, according to sources.

“Roughly 93,000 railway employees are affected by Covid (presently). Not all require hospitalisation. We have lost lives as well,” Railway Board Chairman and CEO Suneet Sharma said. He added that they have already identified 72 hospitals of Indian Railways where Covid-positive employees and their beneficiaries are being treated.

While the Railways has around 12 lakh employees, most of those infected are frontline workers connected with daily operations of passenger and freight trains, sources said. “The figures you see are of those who have reported to railway hospitals officially. The real numbers may be higher… Railways is under stress due to so many infections,” a senior official said.

Sharma said that the Railways is focusing manpower in corridors where they have greater movement. He added that the surge in virus cases among its workers would not impact operations.