The controversy over issuing of Tatkal requisition forms in English and Malayalam for passengers at Pollachi railway station came to an end after the Palakkad Railway Division made the forms available in Tamil.
According to T. Krishna Balaji, a railway activist from Pollachi, the Tatkal reservation/cancellation requisition forms were not available in Tamil at the railway station since July 21 and that the Tamil forms were issued once again from Sunday.
“Passengers who knew only Tamil were unable to use the forms,” he said, alleging that the railway officials did not provide a proper response when the issue was previously raised by passengers.
On Sunday, Pollachi MP K. Shanmugasundaram wrote a letter to John Thomas, General Manager of Southern Railway, that the forms in Tamil were allegedly replaced by forms in English and Malayalam in the railway station.
“The station staff said that this was temporary due to non-availability of Tamil forms,” he wrote, adding that this had caused “serious inconvenience” to the residents.
An official from the Pollachi railway station said on Monday that the Tatkal reservation/cancellation requisition forms were now available in Tamil for the passengers. He denied that the Tamil forms were in short supply and refused to comment further on the issue.
