Dragged to courts frequently over poor quality services and passenger-unfriendly practices, the Railways has been pulled up by the Cabinet Secretariat for not paying ‘‘prompt attention’’ to grievances of the public.Unfazed by the criticism, the Railways has instead directed all its general managers to engage competent lawyers to contest cases and file appeals against orders that go against them.The Railways had, so far, been taking refuge in the Railway Act which does not attach any legal responsibility to pay compensation even if a passenger booked in First Class fails to find a place to sit in the train. But with consumer courts directing them to pay compensation in several cases, the Railways have been forced to pull up their socks and formulate strategies to defend themselves better, if not improve passenger facilities or uphold their rights.Even Consumer Affairs Minister Sharad Yadav wrote to Railway Minister Nitish Kumar asking for better monitoring of cases and effective defence to avoid huge financial claims going undefended. In 2002, the Railways paid Rs 14,30,000 as compensation. As many as 2,668 cases against the Railways were still pending in various consumer courts at the end of 2002.Railway Board Chairman R.K. Singh pulled up the zones which had to pay more compensation than the others and had a good word for South Central Railways (SCR) which succeeded in not paying any compensation last year by favourably defending all the 46 cases against it. The SCR then turned a role model for the other zones.Reasons for winning and losing cases were tabulated and sent to all the zones to help them defend their cases better. Things like ‘‘deficiency in service, unauthorised passengers in coaches, delay in refund, and non-supply or poor quality of bed-rolls’’ were listed among reasons for losing the cases. ‘‘While defending cases, it should be checked as to whether the cases can be decided in favour of Railways by citing any of the reasons (for winning),’’ the CRB’s note added.
