E Arun & Tarun Kartick
Port Blair, Apr 15: Because of isolation and difficult geographical constrains, Andaman and Nicobar Islands do not have railways. All we have is just one Railways Reservation Counter at Secretariat gate to facilitate the people to book their railway tickets for their journey in mainland India. But at present instead of serving people well the railway booking counter is giving nightmares to public.
According to reports two booking staffs have been posted at the Railways Reservation Counter and at a time two counters operate to facilitate early reservation. But to the dismay of public at present one out of the two booking staffs, is on leave and because of this one counter has been temporarily closed.
As one counter is closed the Railways Reservation Counter is giving only 50 percent output. The people wanting to get tickets have to stand in long queue and wait for their turn to come to get the tickets because of the availability of just one booking staff. The public is harassed because they are not able to get tickets in urgent need and have to return back home empty handed and travel with total uncertainty during their journey in mainland.
The online booking system of Railway has eased the life of people all over India but in Andaman and Nicobar Islands it makes no difference because of the bad connectivity and lack of required infrastructure. Further the travel agents are not allowed to book railway tickets as the booking portal is self service portal and no agent can book a ticket for a customer through the portal and even if travel agents book tickets for the people considering their problem they charge extra fees because of non-availability of commission.
The people of these Islands have no other choice than to stand in long queue since early morning hours to increase their probability of getting a ticket. The queues are getting longer and longer day by day and sufferings of the people are also increasing day by day but there is no one to save them from such harassment.
“If staffs of Secretariat take leave, will administration close the secretariat? Then why in absence of one staff the Railways Reservation Counter in unable to operate both the counters. They must train people and keep alternatives ready all the time. You can’t close a government office completely or partially if staffs take leave. Railways Reservation is an emergency and important service, the Administration must ensure that there are sufficient staffs in the Railways Reservation Counter,” said an angry islanders, who was standing in long queue for more the one hour.
Moreover all over India, Railways Reservation Counters remain open even on Sundays but in Andaman because of Babudum the counter remains closed on Sunday and hence even Tatkal booking is not possible on Sundays.
When Andaman Sheekha contacted officials to know about the cause of long queues in the booking counter the official said that one booking staff of the counter is on leave and presently only one booking window is working. They also informed that there are five railway staffs in these Islands three are permanent railway staffs and two are contract workers and due to insufficient staff only one window is functional. They also added that trained personnel are not available in the Islands so it is difficult to recruit staffs too.
When they were questioned on why on Sundays the counters remain closed they replied that according to railway rules a railway staff has only five working days in a week and whereas in Andamans they are working for six days so the Administration has given one day off to them.
The authorities responsible in this regard should look into the matter and should soon depute some more staffs in the counter to facilitate the public to book their tickets as the quality of service is going down each day and the people are suffering because shortage of man power in the Railways Reservation Counter.
