New Delhi: The Indian Railways has rejected the demand of Loco Pilots for providing breaks to have meals and attend to nature’s call while they are on duty.The long-pending demands have been rejected by the Railway Board while accepting the recommendations of a high-level committee. The Railway Board has said that it is not operationally feasible to provide breaks for meals and attending nature’s call to Loco Pilots while on duty, reported The Hindu.The Railway Board’s decision has been condemned by the All India Loco Running Staff Association (AILRSA) which has said that the recommendations of the committee are unrealistic and unfounded.In a letter to the Chief Executive Officer/Chairman Railway Board, AILRSA secretary-general K.C. James said that the committee has failed to conduct job evaluation for assessing the increase in stress level of Loco Pilots with the increase in the speed from 110 to 130 kmph.James added that the denial of break for attending nature’s call with no toilet facility in locomotives was unacceptable.According to AILRSA central organising secretary V. Balachandran, many superfast trains have non-stop run from about 6-7 hours.For example, a crew taking charge of the New Delhi-Chennai Tamil Nadu Express at Vijayawada at 11.10 pm has to run the train non-stop till it reaches Chennai at 6.35 am the next morning.“The plight of women Loco Pilots is even worse. On high-density routes, superfast express trains cannot be stopped in mid-section or wayside stations unless it is an emergency,” said Balachandran.He added that when a Loco Pilot is unable to eat or control nature’s call, it would result in distraction and compromise the level of alertness.Earlier, after investigation into train accidents caused due to trains passing the signal at danger, there have been several recommendations to review the long working hours of Loco Pilots and their working conditions, said Balachandran.The AILRSA has also opposed the installation of Crew Voice & Video Recording System in loco cabins and has said that it is a breach of privacy.