Railways takes MPs from Kerala for a ride

KOCHI: The proposal of the Railways to open reservation counters in every Parliament constituency in the state has failed to materialise with at least 18 such counters pending sanction. The MPs point out many hurdles in implementing the proposal. One of the reasons for the delay is the shortage of staff. Chalakkudy MP K P Dhanapalan said: “Earlier, we were told that the Railways would provide the required staff to man the counters. Later, they asked us to find the staff to operate the counters citing deficiency of clerks. We had approached the local bodies to provide the staff. But they were helpless as they do not have sufficient staff to run their own offices.”    The Railways is not willing to give the space to set up the counters. In some constituencies, the panchayats provided space for the counters in their own offices. But the Railways objected to opening of counters in panchayat offices saying it was against its policy. “The Railways  had never set any such condition when the policy was announced. But now they are opposing it, said Thrissur MP P C Chacko.  Even Defence Minister A K Antony’s request for a reservation counter at Cherthala fell on deaf ears. According to the reply obtained through the Right to Information Act, the Railways had rejected Antony’s proposal as the proposed counter was 3 km away from the Cherthala railway station.  However, the Railways said they were all set to open the counters but the MPs were yet to get familiarised with the rules for opening them. “We are willing to provide the software and impart training to the staff required to run the counters. But it is the responsibility of the MPs to arrange the staff and the infrastructure to operate the counters,” said Thiruvananthapuram Divisional Railway Manager Rajesh Agarwal. The policy was announced in the 2010-2011 Railway Budget. If implemented properly, it would have been a great relief for the common man, who otherwise  have to travel a long distance to reserve the tickets.