Passenger security to be raised
RAILWAY BUDGET

| The death of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vapayee's grandnephew, Manish Mishra, in a brawl that reportedly broke out in a train on January 26, found reverberations in Railway Minister Nitish Kumar's brief 24-minute interim Budget speech. |
| Kumar announced that trains plying in high traffic areas would be escorted by Railway Protection Force personnel to beef up passenger safety from July 1 this year. |
| To provide better security to passengers and passenger areas, certain amendments have been carried out in the Railways Act and the Railway Protection Force Act in the current session of Parliament. |
| With these amendments, the Railway Protection Force has been entrusted with additional responsibilities to inquire and launch prosecution in case of certain minor offences under the Railways Act. |
| The move will enable the Government Railway Police to focus on the offences that are more serious in nature. A high level co-ordination meeting of home secretaries, director generals of police, GRP chiefs of various states was held by the railway ministry on January 15. |
| The details regarding the implementation of the amendments and methods for more co-ordinated security measures were discussed during the meeting. |
| The ministry has decided to institutionalise such security related co-ordinations with the states by calling for a meeting on January 15 every year. |
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First Published: Jan 31 2004 | 12:00 AM IST

