The Western Railway collected ₹11.84 crore from 2.47 lakh ticketless travellers following a special drive to penalise offenders in May. A total of 1,037 beggars were removed from the railway premises and 108 passengers were sent to jail. There has been a 17% increase from the number of cases registered during the same month last year.
Ravindra Bhakar, chief public relations officer, Western Railway, said, “Nearly 200 checks were carried out in May against unauthorised passengers.” The 2.47 lakh cases registered includes ticketless travel, irregular travel, unbooked luggages, and begging on station premises. Beggars were apprehended, removed from the railway premises and convicted.”
A senior Western Railway official said, “We receive regular complaints from passengers about beggars roaming around the platforms. As passengers are inconvenienced, we take strict action against such beggars. Because they cannot pay the fine, we sent them to jail.”
Revenue loss
The officer said railway authorities are monitoring ticketless travellers and taking steps to decrease such cases and increase railway revenues. “Ticketless travel is the biggest reason for revenue loss. Every month crores of rupees are collected as a fine from ticketless travellers,” he said.
However, the officials said that the situation did not improve as the beggars returned to the railway station on finishing their jail term. “The innumerable entry and exit points at each station make it difficult for us to restrict the flow of beggars and anti-social elements into the station premises. There’s no way of preventing their entry,” an official said.
