NAGPUR, FEB 26: The scheme of mobile police posts on board major trains passing through the Nagpur division of the Government Railway Police (GRP) has fallen flat after it was launched amid much fanfare last year.Thanks to the "obdurate" ways of the Central Railway authorities who have put commercial interests above passenger safety and convenience while withdrawing the two berths that were being allotted to the personnel manning these mobile posts.Often described as the largest among the three GRP divisions - Mumbai and Pune being the other two - the Nagpur division stretches from Igatpuri to Gondia and includes the notorious Bhusaval-Jalgaon-Nandurbar patch.The scheme formed part of the GRP's overall efforts to reduce the response time to any crime occurring aboard the trains and relieve the victims of the time-consuming process of lodging complaints.As was the practice then, a victim was required to lodge his plaint either at the place from where he began his journey or the destination where he would disembark. In the latter case, the plaint was being despatched by post to the place of journey origin and then taken up for a probe by the GRP.By introducing on board police posts, the GRP had tried to reduce this time gap and ensure a quicker start to their probe. Two constables were being posted aboard the trains with mobile police posts, with a station dairy, blank FIR copies and other documents required for lodging complaints.Once a matter was reported on board, the same was being forwarded to the GRP at the immediate destination where the train would stop. Authorities at this destination would soon get in touch with their counterparts at the place of journey origin to inform details of the incident, through communication means like wireless sets. Thus, ensuring quicker start to the probe.For the benefit of easy location by the passengers, a signboard of railway post would be hung on the window at the end of the bogey with mobile police post and the personnel on duty were also being provided a couple of berths.If the GRP authorities are to be believed, it was the wastage of these two berths for a non-commercial purpose like policing that rankled the Central Railway officials. ``God knows, how it was affecting their profits,'' a senior GRP officer reacted when asked by The Indian Express about the fate of the novel scheme. ``They (railway officials) have been thoroughly uncooperative,'' he added.The mobile posts in vogue in Mumbai GRP division have proved quite effective in meeting their prime objective, authorities claim. It is being operated on board 10 major trains on the Western Railways originating from Mumbai.Even in case of Nagpur, the scheme, launched first on Vidarbha Express and later extended to other trains, was proving effective. But for the `obdurate' stance adopted by the railway officials.
