Railways will soon give unique identity to all MPs and former MPs to help them book train tickets and end any misuse in multiple bookings. Announcing this in lok Sabha on Wednesday Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said it was a fact that a Member of Parliament can at the same time make multiple bookings in different trains bound for different destinations and there is no mechanism to find out in which train the MP actually travelled.
“Probably, there is a chance of misuse of this facility. So, to avoid any such misuse from occuring, the Railway Ministry is mulling to provide a unique identity to each MP and former MP with a password so that only he or she can book the ticket. When the ticket is booked, the MP will instantly get an SMS in his or her registered mobile number, thus making the system transparent,” he said during Question Hour.
The Minister said the Railways would look into the issue of wrongdoings, if any, in the process of multiple bookings. “Some instances of multiple bookings being made in the names of MPs do come to notice. However, no case of impersonation has been reported. The details of persons not turning up in the train are not maintained,” he said.