look news india
Railway Ticket Checking Rules: To keep a check on ticketless travellers, including policemen, during the festival season, the Railway Ministry has decided to launch a special ticket checking drive, officials said. In a letter to general managers of 17 zones on September 20, the Railway Ministry has asked them to launch a special drive against ticketless and unauthorised travellers between “October 1 and October 15 and October 25 and November 10” and take appropriate action under the provisions of the Railway Act, 1989.
Policemen will be targeted
According to the commercial officers of the railways, who are involved in the regular drive being carried out in various railway zones, during festivals there is a rush and at that time, apart from the common people, even the policemen are on their target as they are the first ones to violate the rules.
Police officers threatened
“During our recent surprise check between Ghaziabad and Kanpur, we found hundreds of policemen travelling without tickets in air-conditioned coaches of various express and mail trains. When we fined them, initially they refused to pay and threatened us with dire consequences,” an officer said.
He said, “We were fearless and made them pay the fine. The response of the passengers was very encouraging as they were happy and surprised to see action against the police personnel.”
Ticket inspectors of the North Central Railway zone said they want to focus on policemen and other unauthorised travellers as they create trouble for passengers with valid tickets.
9 crore rupees fine imposed on passengers without ticket
When asked about the number of policemen caught travelling without tickets in recent times, a railway spokesperson for Prayagraj division said, “We do not maintain separate data for policemen. But in the last three months, that is June, July and August, 1,17,633 passengers were caught travelling without tickets in Prayagraj division alone under the North Central Railway (NCR) zone and a fine of Rs 9,14,58,171 was imposed on them.” 'Policemen create trouble'
Railway ticket examiners also believe that policemen create the most problems as they not only break the law by travelling without tickets but also forcibly make legitimate passengers share their seats and clash with railway staff over action.
“Dealing with ticketless policemen is really a nightmare as they not only misbehave with us but also often threaten to register fake cases against us to harass us,” said Sanjay Singh, president of the Indian Railway Ticket Checking Personnel Organisation (IRTCSO).
On an application filed under the RTI Act by a person named Chandrashekhar Gaur, the Railways said that in the financial year 2023-24, 361.045 lakh passengers were caught traveling without ticket or on unauthorized tickets and a fine of Rs 2231.74 crore was collected from them.