NAGPUR, July 18: The oft-repeated complaint from the public that some of the railway employees are impolite, was proved true on Thursday, when during a meeting with the Maharashtra Yatri Kendra delegates, the Deputy Railway Manager (DRM),Central Railway, Ved Prakash, decided to check the matter for himself.Sitting in his chamber, the DRM, without identifying himself, dialled the railway enquiry number. The result must have indeed shocked him, since the woman official at the counter was suspended immediately. Needless to say, the employee spoke very rudely with Prakash.``I am terribly upset at this attitude. The railway officials have no right to speak in such an intemperate language. The work pressure cannot be an excuse for their rudeness. The guilty would be dealt with severely from now on,'' the DRM assured the delegation.Commenting on the link failures at the reservation counters causing a great deal of harassment to the people, the DRM said the railway would try its best to reduce such failures.Addressing the Yatri Kendra delegation which submitted a memorandum of demands to him, the DRM said, at the local level, the Central Railway has managed to reduce the fault, however, it is not possible to check the link fault at the national level.Reacting to the demands of the Yatri Kendra that the railway employees must compensate for the time lost during link failure, Ved Prakash said, ``It is not possible to extend the timings of the reservation counters. The workers have fixed duty hours, and the railway can't force them to work for extra hours in case of link failures''.The DRM assured the delegation that the demand for extra coaches for wait- listed passengers would be looked into. He however, stated the problem of the Central Railway in bridging the gap between demand and supply of seats. The demand would continue to increase despite all efforts, he said.On the question of shortage of TTs at Nagpur, the DRM said, ``Right now it is not possible to increase their number. In this regard, the labour policy of the Fifth Pay Panel report is awaited''.The delegation complained that because of shortage of TTs at Nagpur, all coaches are not inspected. As a result, many wait-listed passengers fail to get a berth. Secondly, because of fewer conductors, there is no check on unreserved passengers in the reserved compartments.The DRM also instructed his officials to look into the charges that the train inquiry department at the Central Railway's office does not function properly, due to which passengers do not get proper intimation. He also made a spot-check in this regard.The DRM's attention was drawn to the hawkers at the Nagpur railway station who charge exorbitant prices. He agreed to put price lists of popular items so that the people are not cheated.Regarding providing medical aid to the long-distance passengers at the Nagpur railway station he said the Central railway is very prompt in providing all possible medical help on time whenever such emergencies arise.
