Sitting amid the blackened remains of his home, 32-year-old Nikesh Gawali carefully broke open a half-melted plastic box with a screwdriver. His hands shook slightly, not out of fear, but out of hope. “I’m trying to find my daughter Aarti’s gold earrings,” he said quietly, still focused on the box. “She’s just five. I got them made recently after months of labour work.” The plastic box, warped and blackened by heat, was one of the few things left from his two-room house on the outskirts of Dhamangaon village . All around him lay ash, broken tin sheets and charred wooden beams. The walls had cracked under the heat and the front room’s tin roof had caved in completely. What remained was a blackened debris all around - almost nothing to suggest a home once stood there. Nikesh earns his living as an agricultural labourer, like many in the village. Work is uncertain and depends on the season. Those earrings weren’t just jewellery - they were a small dream, a reward for his hard work,...
Railway Board is continuously hammering RPF to focus more on passenger security but not taking any decision to remove shortage
By Dheeraj Fartode
Indian Railway makes no bones about its commitment to passenger security and railway property yet Railway Protection Force (RPF) finds itself grappling with staff shortage. The paramilitary force is reeling with vacancies with nearly 50% seats of constabulary lying vacant in Nagpur Division. Inspite of shortage the Central Railway and South East Central Railway directed its division to spare manpower for election duty.
Two companies of SECR and 20 constables of CR are current on election duties.
According to information, sanctioned strength of RPF CR at Nagpur Division is 576 including 380 constabulary force. 160 seats of constabulary force are lying vacant as Central Railway Headquarters have not bothered to fill-up vacancies since last four years.
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In SECR, 526 is the sanctioned strength of force including 430 posts of constabulary. According to sources, about 220 posts of constables are vacant at Nagpur Division.
In Central Railway's Nagpur Division there are eight RPF stations and seven outpost while in SECR's division has six station and six outposts. Sources informed that the force has become top heavy as there are ample number of middle and senior officers but the men needed in field, the constables, are missing from RPF. This situation is ultimately resulted in compromises on security of passenger and railway property in the division.
Sources said Railway Board is continuously hammering RPF to focus more on passenger security but at same time former is not taking any decision to remove shortage. Thefts in running trains and railway station premises is now becoming a cause of concern, as there is simply not enough manpower to man all the trains whose number are increasing everyday.
There are guidelines from Railway Board to conduct regular searches at Passenger Reservation System (PRS) but this too is affected and same is reflected in annual data of RPF at both the division.
When contacted Sr. Divisional Security Commandant (Sr. DSC), Central Railway, Nagpur Division, Ibrahim Sheriff, accepted that the force is little stretched but at the same time he contended that matter is under control. New recruitment has begun and within year end the vacancies would be filled-up.
Efforts to elicit view of division officials of SECR, Nagpur Division, went in vain as Divisional Security Commandant (DSC) D B Gaur did not respond to repeated calls. But it was learnt that SECR's Nagpur Division is very much stretched and part of its jurisdiction falls in Naxal Zone and yet manpower is not being given to the force.
Due to shortage of manpower some strategic points cannot be manned and the sources cited the example of removal of pandrol clips on Kalumna-Itwari stretch.
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