GRP officers to get resting room at Churchgate

The Western Railway will soon hand over a resting room to the Government Railway Police (GRP) for personnel who are assigned night duty. The room is located next to the GRP station at Churchgate.

GRP personnel usually sleep on the floor near the ticketing office at Churchgate after finishing their night duty. Constables are assigned to the ladies compartment at night. Since there are no trains after their duty ends, they normally take the first train to go home and sleep at the station for the three-to-four-hour gap between the last and first trains. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had, during a visit, said facilities should be provided for the GRP staff to sleep.

Divisional Regional Manager of Western Railway Mukul Jain said, “The railway minister had highlighted the issue and we have acted accordingly. We have created a prototype, which we will be handing over to the GRP for them to use.” Mr. Jain added that while the Railways will provide the land, the GRP will have to build retiring rooms at other locations.

The room is a container which has been re-done. It has 20 bunk beds along with fans and plug points. A GRP official said, on condition of anonymity, what was needed was twice the room’s capacity. “If you visit the station at night, you will find at least 40 GRP constables sleeping on the floor.”

The official also said that room gets warm and one will have to wait and see if the staff uses it during the summer months.