Rly Board stalls privatisation of ticketing

November 1: Stiff opposition from railway unions has forced the Railway Board to keep in abeyance its decision to award contracts to private travel agents for the new the Passenger Reservation System (PRS). The decision, which allows private travel agents to issue tickets, had been taken in April but was met with vehement protests from railway employees. However, after meeting a delegation representing unions of the Western, Central and Southern railways on October 24, the Railway Board has decided to postpone its privatisation plan for at lleast six months.

In Mumbai, three travel agents had been awarded contracts to issue tickets amid allegations that their credentials were questionable. Several irregularities in their own business dealings were pointed out to the authorities but to no avail. But that apart, the opposition from unions stems from the very decision to rope in private travel agents to issue tickets.

Union sources present at the October 24 meeting say that the delegation had been invited by Shanti Narayan, member, traffic, of the Railway Board. During the meeting, the unions had pointed out that the PRS is redundant as collections at the railway counters is healthy and does not justify the new policy. If there are problems in sale and distribution of tickets, they can be sorted out without private pariticpation, the unions said.

Umraomal Purohit, president of the All India Railwaymen’s Federation and general secretary of the Western Railway Employees’ Union, concedes that there are several irregularities in the sale of tickets by railway staff. However, these can be countered by stricter vigilance. “Will privatisation wipe out these problems,” he asks. “In fact, given the dire need for tickets, travel agents will easily misuse the opportunity by demanding excess sums from desperate commuters,” he says.