Ramesh D Garge
Senior Citizen of India,
‘Yatnadeep’, Opp Magan Bhuvan,
Nr G P O, Raopura, Baroda, Gujarat
Pin Code – 390 001
Dt – 6/12/2008
Dear Sir / Madam,
I am 70 years old senior citizen of democratic India. I have worked hard and paid taxes regularly all my life to the Government of India. On 5th December, 2008, I boarded train no-2933, Karnavati Express from Mumbai Central (BCT) and the train departed at 13-40 hrs. I have traveled via ticket PNR No [protected] booked on 30th November, 2008 at 08:44:19 am. Total fare Rs 447, Class II, D1/103, 99, 100. I was traveling with my 68 years old wife and 36 years old daughter. I was returning from Banglore to Ahmedabad via Kolhapur & Mumbai. We had been traveling for more than 36 hours already and waiting patiently to reach home at last.
From Borivali station onwards at every station, so many people kept boarding the coach and they were literally standing on our toes and leaning on our bodies. There was utter chaos in the train with small children crying and the vendors making their way through this terrible crowd by pushing and stepping on people's toes. All these people have no reservation but the T.C. said that they had a right to stand and travel in the reserved compartment. We had no place to keep our luggage or our legs. No air to breathe. This was worse than traveling in the general compartment. No chaiwala or milk or water vendor sold us anything because they said there is no place to stand how can we give you a bottle of milk and take money from you? My diabetic wife had to go without her chai. From Surat the situation became worse and then we could not bear it anymore & decided to get down at Baroda instead of Ahmedabad and go to Ahmedabad by bus.
I feel this is very very very unfair. Indian Railway is looting the common man by providing a reservation at extra cost by tatkal, on top of it passengers who have a reserved ticket are forced to travel in inhuman conditions because the law allows anyone to board a reserve compartment, even if they don't have a reservation and those others force the people with reserved ticket to give up their place & leave the train without reaching the destination for which they paid in full.
Where do I go for justice? Whom do I fight and how at the age of 70? How do I protect my wife and daughter? I had taken my daughter to Bangalore for treatment. She was not well. We were both exhausted. Did we not have the right to travel in peace on our own reserved seat in the reservation compartment? Why? What is Mr. Laloo Prasad Yadav doing? Only increasing railway profit at the cost of the common man? Should these be no limit as to how many people can board a train and how many maximum no. of tickets should be issued for a particular train? I would request the Judges of the Supreme Court and High Court of India to please look into this matter seriously and take very strict legal measures to make sure that number of tickets sold by the Railway authorities for any particular train, match with the carrying capacity or total no. of seats on the train and under no circumstances should passengers without reservation be allowed in the reserved coaches to ensure that long distance travelers can reach their destination in peace without being harassed.
Railway can introduce a separate coach without seats, for people who are willing to stand and travel because they desperately need to reach a particular destination. But under no circumstances should general ticket holders or waiting list ticket holders be allowed in reserved compartments.
Please allow us to travel in peace. After all we are paying for it.
(Ramesh D Garge)
Senior Citizen of India
