The alertness of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) escort teams of Tiruchi Division deployed on board express trains to ensure security for travellers and act in times of emergency situation is being checked by senior officers by carrying out escort checking en route.
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This system has been put in place in accordance with a recent direction from the Railway Board which has issued a circular in this connection to all railway zones.
Senior RPF officers from the rank of Inspector, Assistant Security Commissioner and Senior Divisional Security Commissioner/ Divisional Security Commissioner have been instructed to ensure alertness of the escort teams and effectiveness by conducting escort checking en route between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m.
A schedule has been drawn up for the officers from the rank of Inspector to Senior Divisional Security Commissioner in this regard.
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Schedule drawn up
As per the schedule, the Senior Divisional Security Commissioner / Divisional Security Commissioner has been asked to conduct escort checks en route four times in a month.
The Assistant Security Commissioner will conduct the checks en route twice in a week and the Inspectors, who are also the Post Commanders, have been instructed to carry out the task thrice in a week.
A set of guidelines have been issued in the Railway Board circular to streamline the train escorting system so as to make it more effective. One of the guidelines is that every escort team should consist of a Subordinate Officer as far as possible. A Head Constable should lead the escort team in the absence of a Subordinate Officer, it further states. Another guideline was that the escort teams should be briefed about the dos' and don'ts while escorting and about criminals / anti-social elements active in the section where the teams are being deputed.
The circular has also drawn up the escorting schedule for RPF Subordinate Officers to ensure that maximum number of escort teams are headed by them. The Inspector of RPF Post who is also the Post Commander has been directed to head the escort team once in a fortnight, while the Sub Inspector attached to RPF posts would head the escort teams once in a week and the Assistant Sub Inspector of RPF Posts would head the team twice in a week. A separate schedule has been drawn up for Inspectors, Sub Inspectors and Assistant Sub Inspectors posted at Reserve Lines/ Train Escort/Cash Escort Company.
The effectiveness of escort checkings, gaps noticed during such checks and system improvement should find place in periodic crime meetings convened by the Senior Divisional Security Commissioner / Divisional Security Commissioner and follow up action taken in this regard, the circular further said.
RPF sources here say the recent instruction of the Railway Board has been put in place in Tiruchi Division to streamline the escort teams in order to serve the passengers. Over 90 RPF personnel including 20 Subordinate Officers were being deployed daily on board several trains being operated on the Tiruchi- Vriddhachalam - Villupuram chordline section and on the Villupuram - Thanjavur via Chidambaram, Mayiladuthurai and Kumbakonam mainline section.
In addition to these, escort teams are also being deployed on board bi-weekly trains originating from Tiruchi Division and those passing through it.