The Railway Ministry is taking the Digital India initiative seriously and helping out the needy through Twitter. In the latest one, the Railways earned laurels for helping within minutes a woman worried for her old mother travelling alone in Dibrugarh Rajdhani on Tuesday night.
Surabhi Gupta had sought help from Railways by posting on Twitter that she was unable to speak to her mother as her mobile got switched off and that the old passenger was travelling on an RAC (semi-berth) ticket from New Delhi to Guwahati.
“Surabhi was desperate to know about the wellbeing of her mother who did not have a confirmed ticket. She wanted to know whether her mother got a confirmed berth or not and whether she was alright. She posted on Rail Ministry’s twitter handle following which the entire staff of the concerned zone were put on alert. The RPF men finally tracked the passenger and connected the mother-daughter to speak when the train reached Varanasi station. With technological advancements such helps and aid to passengers are now becoming routine and we appreciate the fact the passengers are making full use of the Digital India initiative,” said a senior railway official.
later in one of her tweets, Surbahi posted: “I am so thankful. I never expected such a prompt action, commendable coordination from Railway Ministry”.
Of late, passengers have been seeking help from Railways by making use of social media. In another quick response to a citizen’s request on Twitter early this week, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu personally extended and monitored the help to a passenger whose father was in need of a wheelchair onboard.
last month too, the Ministry was quick to take action when a woman passenger travelling alone in Maharashtra tweeted that she was being harassed by a man in her compartment. She was attended by the RPF at the Bhusaval Railway station and the man was shifted to another coach.
Prabhu had a few months back directed all zonal Railway General Managers to start their own Twitter handle for keeping a tab on passenger complaints and redress them immediately.
Now, GMs have to ensure that their twitter handles follow the zonal railway’s handle and passenger complaints are promptly addressed to. A July 2015 Railway Ministry order also said that the official Facebook pages must be regularly updated and monitored by the GM.