Along with the steps taken to modernise the railways, Shri Suresh Prabhu has also taken concrete steps to ensure safety and convenience of passengers traveling by trains. Soon after he came to power, he started to use the social media (especially twitter) to address the problems of passengers. What started as an experiment almost a couple of years ago has turned out to be the USP of the ministry of Railways. Any passenger in distress can tweet to @RailMinIndia and the corresponding Divisional Railway Manager , and the problem is promptly solved. Today, the Railway ministry twitter handle is operated by a bunch of professionals 24X7 from the control room so that every problem is promptly addressed. A few responses have been attached. In last couple of years, this initiative of Indian Railways has helped lakhs of people.
And another one…..
Another such step was the operationalisation of the security number 182. Any person in distress can make an emergency call to 182 and the Railway Protection Force will promptly address the issue at the earliest possible. Many women traveling alone have benefited from this initiative and ensured their safety.
Recently, Indian Railways has proposed to install Close Circuit Television (CCTV) Cameras at 983 stations under the Nirbhaya Fund (which was created after the Delhi gangrape incident) to improve the safety of women passengers at these railway stations. This will ensure that the railway stations are under continuous surveillance, and hence safe for passengers. As of today, CCTV Cameras have already been provided and are fully functional at 344 stations. Apart from continuous 24×7 surveillance for the safety and suspicious activities, all the zones and the divisions under the jurisdiction have been instructed to extend the use of CCTVs for cleanliness and maintenance of the railway station premises.
An example of good governance and ‘achhe din’, courtesy Shri Suresh Prabhu, one of the all-time best railway ministers.
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Kshitij Mohan.
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(The author is a passionate railway enthusiast whose hobby, passion and love is railways. He keenly follows the developments in the fields of railways all over the world. Currently pursuing his Ph.D. from Germany)
