The Railway Ministry announces the launch of a special ticket checking drive targeting unauthorised travellers from October 1-15 and October 25-November 10.During the special ticket checking drive, the railway ministry targeted illegal travellers including some police personnel.
On September 20, the Ministry instructed the General Managers of 17 railway zones to take strict measures against ticketless travel, implementing provisions of the Railway Act of 1989. Railway officials said that an unannounced inspection between Ghaziabad and Kanpur a few days back discovered a large number of policemen travelling ticketless in AC coaches. This posed confrontational encounters when their tickets were sought.
Confrontational Encounters
Authorities said that some of the policemen refused to pay fines and threatened to take railway officials hostage, but the enforcing party did not budge. Passengers welcomed these activities as they claimed that all commuters should be liable.
Nuisance Caused by Policemen
Ticket-checking officials emphasise that ticketless travel by policemen obscures the experience of valid passengers. An official from the Prayagraj Division said that in the last three months, over 117,000 passengers were penalised alone for ticketless travel.
Harassment Issues
Sanjay Singh, president of Indian Railway Ticket Checking Staff Organisation, sounded alarm about the harassment on part of policemen during checking. Incidents of misbehaviour by a policeman with railway staff and genuine passengers have seen viral fight videos over ticket checking. Singh has sought decisive action by police organisations against such wrongdoing.
Ticketless travel remains another issue with Indian railways. A response under the RTI pointed out that in the financial year 2023-24, the railway staff captured more than 36 million passengers for ticketless travel and thereby paid an amount of fines worth around ₹2,231.74 crores.
Passenger Comfort
To make train travel more comfortable for passengers during festive rushes, the Railway Ministry told its senior officers to conduct such ticket-checking drives both at divisional and zonal levels. The feedback from the state and other places will arrive in the office by November 18, thereby continuing efforts to keep the trains in order and safe,” added the official.
