Under criticism, Railways withdraws massage services proposal on trains

New Delhi, June 15: Facing criticism, Western Railway (WR) on Saturday dropped its proposal to provide 'head and foot' massage services to passengers on trains originating from Indore.

WR chief spokesperson Ravinder Bhakar said that the head and foot massage service was initiated by the Ratlam Division.

"As soon as it came to the notice of the higher authorities, it has been decided to withdraw this proposal of starting massage services on trains," Bhakar said.

There were other suggestions and representations made for improving passenger amenities which the WR will now consider instead of the massage proposal.

A railway official had said on June 8 that the railways was readying to begin the facility in the next couple of weeks in 39 trains departing from Indore. This is a proposal from the Ratlam division of Western Railway zone, an official said.

The railways is looking to earn an additional revenue of Rs 20 lakh annually and an estimated increase of Rs 90 lakh per year through additional sale of tickets from about 20,000 passenger who will be the service providers, PTI had reported.

The move was criticised by BJP's Indore MP Shankar Lalwani. He wrote to Union minister Piyush Goyal, saying that it is against Indian culture to offer such services in the presence of women.