The Indian Railways has decided to slap a fine of Rs 10,000 on the contractor responsible for supplying staff for the Ranchi-New Delhi Rajdhani Express after pictures of them consuming alcohol onboard were shared by a passenger.
Ranchi Divisional Railway Manager, VK Gupta on Monday said that the Railways will take strict actions against the outsourced staff who allegedly consumed alcohol in the New Delhi bound Rajdhani Express on Saturday night.
“We will slap a fine of Rs 10,000 on the contractor who supplied the staff to the railways. None of the offenders will be spared,” said Gupta.
He, however, did not disclose the identity of the contractor. Sources said that the contractor provided pantry staffs to the Northern Railways.
The incident came to light after a passenger travelling in bogie number B8 took pictures of the staff while they were drinking alcohol at an enclosure near the lavatory. The passengers alleged that the Travelling Ticket Examiners (TTE) refused to lodge their complaint against the staff. The matter, however, is still under investigation.
This makeshift bar became a cause of many problems. Many woman passengers had to use the lavatories in other bogies in a bid to avoid encountering the tipsy staff, a passenger told the media on Sunday.
Tackling alcoholic service and pantry staff has been a major challenge for the railways since a long time. The Indian Railways have on a number of occasions come up with different ideas to keep a check on such staff. In an order dated November 27, 2001, the ministry had asked the Railway Board to identify such rail service staff who were addicted to alcohol and had a habit of day drinking.
The Indian Railways had also run a full-fledged campaign in 2017 to put a check on alcoholic train drivers.