Activities that amount to depositing litter in unoccupied railway premises, putting up posters in any compartment or carriage without due permission and defacing railway property would be checked. (Representational Image)
The Western Railway (WR) has authorised officials from other departments, in addition to the station masters and ticket collectors (TCs), to impose fines on commuters found littering on station premises. The move that will come into effect next week, would arm at least 200 more WR employees with the power to levy fines on erring commuters.
This, officials said, would improve cleanliness and maintenance in railway stations. In an official order issued last month, officials holding senior ranks in the operating, mechanical, engineering, medical, carriage and wagon departments and personnel from the Railway Protection Force (RPF) could impose fines on individuals affecting hygiene on railway premises.
Activities that amount to depositing litter in unoccupied railway premises, putting up posters in any compartment or carriage without due permission and defacing railway property would be checked.
“At least 10 per cent officials from each of these departments are included in the task. This will add to the presence of checking staff at the stations. We found that station masters and TCs were pre-occupied with their other duties to be able to catch such erring commuters on a regular basis. Enforcing the responsibility to more officials will help keep a better check,” a senior WR official said.
Fines between Rs 200 and Rs 500 would be levied on the erring commuters as a “penalty for affecting cleanliness”.
They would receive money receipts for the fines charged to them. Till July 2017, 24,772 cases had been registered against erring commuters and a total fine of Rs 47,46,510s had been received.
Comparatively, 7,448 cases with fines of Rs 7,86,877 on a monthly average were registered in 2016.
“This is a step in the right direction to ensure that cleanliness is maintained on the station premises. However, the railway officials must equally contribute to keeping a strict vigil on these erring commuters,” said Subhash Gupta, a railway activist.
