Even as people’s representatives and a section of commuters condemned the Railway’s decision to shift allotment of emergency quota (EQ) from Ernakulam region to the Thiruvananthapuram Divisional Office, Railway officials maintained that it has been done to ensure transparency and to ensure that eligible people who may not have VIP connections get berths or seats.
To benefit the needy
The Thiruvananthapuram Divisional Railway Manager Prakash Bhutani said every effort would be made to ensure that needy passengers get the benefit of EQ. He said the shifting of powers to release EQ from Kochi to the State capital would in no way adversely affect the functioning of Ernakulam Area Manager’s office. “On the contrary, he will get more time to focus on operational, administrative and other tasks of the rail network.”
Senior Divisional Commercial Manager V.C. Sudheesh who has been vested with powers of releasing EQ for Ernakulam region said there were 1,700 berths under EQ for 140 trains that operate from and to areas under the Division.
“Of these, 1,000 EQ berths were dealt with by the Division and the rest by Ernakulam Area Manager. Henceforth, commuters in urgent need of EQ may directly approach us than route it through VIPs,” Mr. Sudheesh said.
The release of EQ has been centralised to ensure closer monitoring of the process, to prevent foul play.
Even after it is made mandatory that applications for EQ should be made directly through e-mail or fax, those not well-versed in the use of mobile phones or computers may approach the chief reservation supervisor or deputy station manager in their respective areas or even the Ernakulam Area Manager.
An official press release issued by Southern Railway said EQ berths would be used to give lower berths to senior citizens, ailing passengers, pregnant women and differently-abled passengers to bring about uniformity and to reach out to needy passengers who have no VIP connection.
