Minister of State for Railways R. Velu today informed the Lok Sabha that 3291 touts have been arrested by the Railway Protection Force under the provision of Section 143 of the Railways Act, 1989 during the last three years.
New Delhi, Mar 13 : Minister of State for Railways R. Velu today informed the Lok Sabha that 3291 touts have been arrested by the Railway Protection Force under the provision of Section 143 of the Railways Act, 1989 during the last three years.
In 2005, 1215 touts were arrested and in 2006, 1015 persons were detained whereas in 2007, 1061 touts were arrested Regular checks are being carried out by Railway Protection Force in association with the Government Railway Police; Railway's Vigilance and Commercial Departments and the local police to combat the menace of touts in and around the reservation offices and Railway Stations.
Frequent drives are being conducted to apprehend the touts and unauthorized agents involved in unauthorized procurement of reserved tickets and transfer of reserved tickets.
In addition to this, surveillance is also maintained on the activities of the touts at major reservation offices. Regular campaigns are launched through newspapers, public address system at Railway Stations and other media, educating the public and dissuading them from purchasing tickets from unauthorized persons and agencies.
Arrangements in reservation offices are also augmented to enable the passengers to purchase the tickets easily and to ensure better availability of train reservations during holidays and peak demand periods when additional trains are also run and the number of coaches of existing trains are augmented.
ANI