A baby girl was born aboard Shramik Train 06146 travelling from Chennai to Dibrugarh enroute New Jalpaiguri (NJP) at 11.55 AM on 18th June 2020 by Surjo Mala Chakma, a migrant worker from Jyotsnapur, Changlang district, Arunachal Pradesh working in a textile factory in Tirupur.
A distress call was received at around 8.30 AM by Chakma Rights and Development Organisation (CRDO), a community based organization based out of Arunachal Pradesh who, in the absence of physical medical assistance, brought on-board two senior doctors on a virtual call that lasted for half an hour and provided timely telephonic medical advice to the pregnant lady when labor pain suddenly started after the train had left Malda station.
On receiving the distress call, the CRDO team immediately informed the Railway helpline after which the Railway Protection Force Control Room alerted the next Station Master and apprised him of the situation. They promised to arrange medical help at the next station – New Jalpaiguri and provided the CRDO team with an emergency phone number to contact them.
The woman delivered the baby girl at 11.55 AM on a moving train 30 minutes before the train could reach the next station at NJP with assistance from her husband and other lady passengers on the train. Upon reaching NJP, the Railways Medical Team quickly assessed the health of the baby and the mother and administered necessary fluids, medicines and injections.
The proud parents of the new-born were filled with joy and expressed happiness that all went well and stated that they boarded the train due to the loss of jobs in Tirupur following the Covid-19 lockdown crisis but had never expected the arrival of the new one in such a moving train and could never forget this day in their lives.
While thanking the Railways, Sanjoy Chakma, CRDO Coordinator – Tiruppur, said that “the baby was delivered without any complications and both the baby and the mother are in sound health.”
“It is an absolute blessing to be able to help the ones in need especially in this kind of difficult situation,” said Mahendra Chakma, President, CRDO. “This is an extraordinary situation that came unannounced and required strong coordination skills to navigate through so many unknowns and I am proud of the way the team has handled the pressure managing the entire process literally on the hook virtually till the delivery of the baby.”