Rlys collect Rs 66K as fine from ticketless

LUDHIANA: Posing big question mark on the credibility of ticket examiners, the railway authorities have launched a 15-day campaign since Monday last against violators of various rules, mostly ticketless travelling. The department is claiming that there has been a 10% increase in ticket sale.
Divisional railway manager Bishwesh Chaubey said, "On receiving complaints that many passengers were travelling without tickets, we formed a campaign and have started surprise checks on various routes.In the past four days, the department has earned Rs 65,000 as fine from ticketless travellers. Besides, the sale of tickets have also seen a rise by 10%. This shows that something was wrong somewhere."
Speaking about it, Ticket Examiner (TE) Union president Manohar Prashar said, "There are nearly 600 TEs in Ferozepur division. Every person performs his duty to the best of his capability and do not leave any chance of complaint. But if the authorities found some wrongs, they can ask for an explanation from the TE concerned."
Giving their side of the story, another TE on the condition of anonymity said sarcastically, "The authorities have not undertaken this campaign to earn revenue. But at times, we need to be considerate. If a passenger arrives late at the station and barely manages to board the train, there is a possibility that he would enter the nearest compartment he can. He might be possessing a general class ticket but may be inside the AC class at such times. Hence, we ignore such cases and do not penalize the violators."
"But if authorities ask us to be strict, we have no objection but to comply. Then they will pull us up, saying complaints have started pouring in in large numbers," he added fuming.
Tickets for kids
Children below 5 years can travel without ticket whereas children those between 5 and 12 years would have to book a half-ticket.