[sadhuji]

Laloo Prasad Jadhav has done plenty for the railways and, his lecture to students of IIM students is proof that he is adept in managing. Unfortunately, he literally landed in a mess during his recent trip to Bhagalpur. He had gone there on 3rd November in connection with an election rally. After the event, he was returning via the railway tracks when his feet fell into a pile of human waste. He was visibly annoyed because his plans had been intimated quite in advance and it was expected that the station and surrounding areas including the railway tracks would be kept spic and span. He flew into a rage and issued transfer orders to as many as 12 persons, among them officers like the DRM of Maldah, Doctors and sanitation staff.

In this connection, the theft on 23/11/2006 in the train that runs between Indore and Patna must have jolted the railway minister. It seems a gang of dacoits boarded the train at Arrah and decamped with lakhs of rupees and valuables from the panic stricken passengers of three reserved compartments. The incident occurred at around evening time. There are supposed to be armed guards who accompany the trains for long distance journeys – but, they are only for night journeys i.e. after nine in the night. Of course, TTEs are supposed to be available at all times inside the trains and they should ensure that only authorized persons board the reserved compartments – obviously, the TTEs on this train were not alive to the problems.  

An exercise was carried out at Churchgate railway station in Mumbai to check the baggage of all persons who enter the station. The intention was to do a trial run and find out the problems that could be faced if such an exercise was made mandatory to pre-empt terrorist strikes. The feedback was not satisfactory. What should have been done would be to carry out random checks – plainclothes policemen and women could be stationed at platforms where long distance trains are scheduled to start. These police personnel could pick out passengers at random and ask them to offer their baggage for inspection. They should concentrate on passengers who run to board the trains at the last minute. The squad could move from one station to another or from one platform to another at will and should be equipped with walkie-talkie sets to maintain continuous communication with the stationary teams. Most importantly, the members of such squads should look to be tough persons, should act accordingly and should be armed as well.