Sitting amid the blackened remains of his home, 32-year-old Nikesh Gawali carefully broke open a half-melted plastic box with a screwdriver. His hands shook slightly, not out of fear, but out of hope. “I’m trying to find my daughter Aarti’s gold earrings,” he said quietly, still focused on the box. “She’s just five. I got them made recently after months of labour work.” The plastic box, warped and blackened by heat, was one of the few things left from his two-room house on the outskirts of Dhamangaon village . All around him lay ash, broken tin sheets and charred wooden beams. The walls had cracked under the heat and the front room’s tin roof had caved in completely. What remained was a blackened debris all around - almost nothing to suggest a home once stood there. Nikesh earns his living as an agricultural labourer, like many in the village. Work is uncertain and depends on the season. Those earrings weren’t just jewellery - they were a small dream, a reward for his hard work,...
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| Banners during Railway election |
Three-day polling to choose the representative union completed on Saturday
By Dheeraj Fartode
Nearly 86.54 percent voting in Central Railway (CR), Nagpur Division and 89.43 percent in South Eastern Central Railway (SECR), Nagpur Division have recorded at the end of three-day polling to choose the representative union.
Polling began on Thursday amidst tight security of Railway Protection Force. According to the election officials voting has been conducted peacefully and no incident of violence has been reported till date. The fate of organisations will be decided on May 2.
At Nagpur level, there are two division that lies in two Zone, Central and SECR. At Central Railway, the AIRF affiliated National Railway Mazdoor Union (NRMU) and NFIR affiliated Central Railway Mazdoor Sangh (CRMS) were in the prestigious battle. Both unions were challenged by three more players, one is Madhya Railway Kamgar Sangh (MRKS), Rail Kamgar Sena (RKS) and Maharashtra Navnirman Rail Kamgar Sena (MNRKS). At SECR, South East Central Railway Mens Union (SECRMU), South East Central Railway Mazdoor Congress (SECRMC) and Daskhin Purva Madhya Railway Mazdoor Sangh (DPMRMS) are in battle. The Men's Union had getting support from Rail Kamgar Sena (RKS).
The counting of votes and deceleration of results in on May 2 and recognition is on Zonal basis. Any union which bags 35 per cent of valid polled votes would be automatically declared winner. For second place, in case the union fails to win 35 per cent vote, the criteria is, the union must bag 30 per cent of total electoral votes, which is quite a huge task.
A voted ballot missed during the polling
A secret ballot was missed during polling at polling station Railway Institute of Central Railway, Wardha on Saturday. The incidence created chaos among workers of unions.
Sources said that an employee took away a voted secret ballot along with him and submitted at evening hours.
However, Senior Divisional Personal Officer (Sr. DPO) B K Panigrahi refused to comment on the incident and said that he have no knowledge about the incident.

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