Railways Short Of Security Staff
Apart from the loss of administrative control of the protection force, it faces a high rate of desertion among ranks of Government Railway Police Force. The rate of vacancy is as high as 50 per cent.
The Railway Protection Force, has 100 companies. Though the railways make 50 per cent contribution towards maintenence of the force, it lost administrative control over it after the Centre declared it as a para-military force. The Centre now reserves the right to requisition the force anytime the need arises.
Sources said high security assembly election is being conducted at the expense of low security railway network. The expenditure of Government Railway Police Force has been equally borne by the railways and the state governments.
Eastern Railway general manager A P Murugesan said here yesterday a report will soon be sent to the railway board to fight the menace of touts, who corner a sizable portion of railway reservation during festival seasons.
Murugesan said the Eastern Railway's trial run of the identification scheme on eve of the dussehra festival has won wide public support. The idea was to produce some form of identity at the time of booking reservation. But it has been suspended following complaints to railway minister Ram Vilas Paswan.
Murugesan said there was no legal basis to demand a passenger's identity in the booking counter as genuine cases not possessing some form of identity like voter's card or ration card will be denied reservation.
He will submit a full report of the experiment to the railway board soon.
At present, the railway vigilance squad randomly checks on reservations and verifies if names and addresses are genuine.
The Eastern Railway will provide 25,000 additional berths to meet the festival rush between October 18 and November 18. Last year, 21,000 additional berths were arranged for.