New Delhi, Sep 12 (PTI) The Railway Protection Force and the Railway’s commercial department squabbled over the presence of illegal vendors in the railway premises in Tundla section under the Prayagraj Rail Division.
This prompted the Prayagraj Rail Division to launch a probe into the matter.
The commercial department has alleged that the Railway Protection Force (RPF) is showing undue favour to illegal vendors.
The RPF has accused the commercial department of being unreasonable to even those vendors, who are authorised to sell their products within the railway premises.
“Illegal vending is a huge menace in railway premises and trains. These vendors sell contaminated and counterfeit food products to the passengers which threaten their safety. It is our duty to stop them from operating within the railway premises,” said an officer from the commercial department.
Accusing the RPF of not cooperating in its drive, he said that when they caught the illegal vendors and charge sheeted them, it was legally the RPF’s duty to take them in its custody.
“However, they are refusing to take the illegal vendors into custody for reasons best known to themselves,” the official said, producing copies of the charge sheets which they had to cancel.
“Only the railway magistrate is authorised to dispose of a charge sheet. But since the RPF is not taking illegal vendors into custody, what will we do with these charge sheets? So, we are cancelling it and collecting a fine from the illegal vendors for travelling without a ticket in trains. We have no other option,” said another official from the commercial department.
On the other hand, the RPF said the commercial department is unreasonably troubling the vendors and imposing fines on even those people who are coming to deliver goods to their authorised shops.
Sources in the RPF say that in some cases, some vendors, who forgot to carry their license and later on arranged a soft copy of it, were also being fined by the commercial department.
When the matter was brought to the notice of AK Sinha, the Chief Security Commissioner of North Central Railway zone under which Prayagraj Division comes, he launched a probe to find out the truth.
When contacted, Sinha said, “I have asked the Senior Divisional Security Commissioner to enquire and report early.” The railway officials also said that illegal vending has become a huge problem at many stations, including the Tundla junction, as these vendors not only sell harmful and unhygienic food items but are also involved in petty crimes such as mobile snatching, theft of passengers bags etc.
“I suggest that the Railway Board should issue an order to constitute a team of officials that should include the RPF as well as the commercial department officers and carry on an extensive drive to weed out illegal vendors from the railway premises across all rail networks,” said a railway official.
“Recently, the station master of Tundla, who was shot while on his way home, wrote in his complaint that he suspected the hands of illegal vendors as he often stopped them from entering the railway premises,” he added. PTI JP AS AS
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