Railway ministry wakes up; all India helpline in pipeline

New Delhi, May 9: The aam aadmi"s aeroplane, the humble train from the Indian Railways is not a safe place any more, especially for women and children. The train has been witness to atrocities against women in reports that emerged recently. From Soumya from Kerala who was pushed out of moving train to Sonu, an athlete who had to forego her limbs in a mishap that is still being investigated, the common factor in both is the hapless train.

The Ministry of Railways seem to have finally realized the perils and sitting up and taking notice of the various hazards a woman has to face when travelling on trains. Plans are in place to set up a three digit all India security helpline for passengers on moving trains. This number will be on par with the police helpline (100) that is in use in almost all Indian cities.

A senior official in the Railway Ministry disclosed on Saturday, “If things go according to our plan, we would be able to roll out the all India helpline in a year from now. There are certain issues and the department is working overtime to address them." To start with the networking of all RPF units and its security control room has already been initiated.

The thought behind the project is to give passengers the opportunity to inform security personnel in the event of crime or related activities in a moving train. It was found that there was delay in passing on the information to the Railway Protection Force (RPF). The official commented, “With the helpline project coming into force, a passenger could make a call to the three digit number and report any such activity. The control room, in return, would alert the next station of the train and, also, the RPF personnel on that train."

OneIndia News