'Clean Charbagh' drive irks a few

LUCKNOW: Littered with lemon and onion peels, the corner of platform no 5 bore ample signs of a family having had its lunch there. Yet, when Jamuna Prasad and his wife Babli were asked by Special Task Force (STF) of Northern Railways (NR) to shell out the fine for littering, the two refused.
"Where is it said that we cannot have our lunch at the station", said Prasad.Joining in their defence were fellow passengers like RB Singh. "We are citizens of India and have all right to know who has made this law that passengers cannot have their lunch at the station".
It was only after STF threatened to confiscate their tickets did Prasad and Babli clean up the place. "This is an everyday occurrence for us. When we impose fines on people, they fight, they argue and sometimes even threaten to file complaints against us", said Shyam Lal, a platform inspector.
Northern Railway's cleanliness drive at Charbagh station might be a hit but passengers and visitors term it 'unfair'. "We were never checked for smoking at the platforms and now all of a sudden they have been declared a no-smoking zone. There has to be at least some information displayed at the station about this", said Sanjeev Prakash, a passenger.
"It is not fair. When the passenger has cleaned the place, why should he/she pay the fine. The amount of Rs 100 is not small", added another passenger Sameer Srivastava. The drive that has mopped up Rs 1,46,171 for railways from 719 people caught under various offences till Tuesday is criticised by passengers on the ground that there is no information displayed at the station about it and the passengers are caught unaware.
Some passengers also questioned the way surprise checks are conducted under the drive. "It is just a matter of chance that you get caught. Otherwise there are so many people who dirty the place and there is no one to check them", said RB Singh.
The Railways are, however, taking note of the complaints. "Soon there will be boards informing passengers on the drive", said Amitabh Kumar, Station Manager, NR. There are also announcements made at the station that tell passengers to keep the place clean. "For passengers who can not read, these announcements can be of help", he added.
Besides, to bring more and more offenders in the loop, NR is also planning to rope in few NGOs. On Tuesday, 3 persons were fined Rs 100 each for littering the station and 2 persons were fined Rs 200 each for smoking. Besides, Rs 2,290 was realised from 8 persons for entering the premises without platform tickets.