RPF staff shortage affects security on trains

Mysore: While the South Western railway (SWR) division claims that the helpline, created soon after the July 2012 incident when a wo­man was molested and pushed out of a train, has helped reduce crimes agai­nst women on trains, the culprits are taking advantage of lack of guards during day time.

The railway protection force (RPF) is unable to deploy guards during day due to a shortage of staff. While the helpline rece­ived 213 complaints since August 2012, when it was set up, it received 101 complaints in 2012 and 112 in 2013. Among them, 10 cases were related to misbehaviour with women.

In one of the cases, the wife of railway personnel was allegedly molested. In another, a group of men harassed a woman and even got into quarrel with her husband. They even tried to push them out of the train. SWR division has pasted stickers of helpline on at least 40 trains which operate from Mysore.

While a train should have four security guards at night, only three are being deployed. According to SWR division sources, though as many as 391 personnel have been sanctioned for RPF, it currently has only 319, including seven women constables.

In the past thirty years only 40 additional security personnel have been sanctioned for the division, out of which only 27 posts were filled in 2010.

While the Mysore station alone has eight entry poi­nts, it has only one door frame metal detector. Arou­nd 25,000 to 30,000 passengers use the station on any given day. The division needs at least 200 more personnel to handle the rush, sources said.

Divisional Security Com­m­andant, Dr V. C. Malli­karjun told Deccan Chro­nicle that most helpline complaints pertain to trivial matters. While the misbehaviour against women by habitual offenders from the State and other States cannot be ruled out, most offenders are fellow passengers trying to take the advantage of women passengers travelling alone.

He said the establishment of helpline has instilled fear among offenders and such cases have come down. “Although we don’t have escorts for day time trains, we do have special squads to carry out surprise checks. While the recruitment of security guards is in progress, the vacancies are likely to be filled shortly,” he said.