The Ranchi Railway Division facing acute shortage of Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel has roped in Private Security Guards to ensure safety in the non-core areas. As many as 39 guards of Ranchi Security Private limited were deployed at Divisional Railway Manager’s (DRM) office at Hatia on Wednesday as well as in Railway hospital, astro-turf hockey stadium, residential colonies of officers and staffs at Hatia and Ranchi Railways stations.
“We have segregated security personnel in two categories. The core areas like trains and platforms will be under RPF while non-core areas will be seen by private security guards. On June 30, we finalized the plan of hiring private guards for a three year contract. The idea has contributed in saving the revenue of Railways as the budget of hiring private guards is cheaper than RPF constables,” DRM Deepak Kashyap said.
“The initiative will help in tackling the frequent theft and chain snatching incidents within the residential colonies of our employees near Hatia and Ranchi stations,” the DRM added.He further said the three year budget for managing the security guards has been fixed at an amount of Rs1.46 crore.Some of these private guards were seen learning the basic security check techniques from RPF soldiers on Thursday. ‘It is our job to keep a vigil eye of the entry of only those employees and outsiders in the DRM office premises who have a pass,” said Nandjee Prasad, the in-Charge of the Ranchi Security Private limited guards in Hatia.
According to Kashyap, similar plan would be implemented in other parts of the South Eastern Railway. “We have taken the lead in working with a private agency among all the divisions under South Eastern Railway. If required, we may hire more private guards in future,” he said.Asked about the recruitment of adequate RPF personnel for trains and platforms within Ranchi Division, he informed that the vacant posts of 108 RPF constables comprising 25 percent women will be fulfilled by the end of this month.
“We have pulled off handful number of RPF guards deployed in the non-core areas to strengthen the manpower in the core areas. With the appointment of new RPF guards, we would be able to ensure proper safety to the passengers in coaches and platforms round the clock,” asserted Kashyap.