To address the issue of on duty railway frontline staff, who have complained of being assaulted and harassed by commuters, the CR has started a multimedia campaign to sensitise passengers.
Through the campaign, the CR will appeal to commuters to refrain from harming railway employees or on duty officers, and will also warn them about the consequences of harassing or manhandling them.
As part of the new campaign, the CR has pasted around 10,000 pamphlets in and around the premises of all the suburban stations.
Apart from requesting commuters to behave “responsibly,” the poster also highlights the charges that commuters would invite under various sections of the IPC (namely Sections 149, 353, 324, 332) and the Railway Act (Section 145, 146, 147, 153 and 174) for assaulting or using criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging his/her duty.
Speaking on the issue, A.K. Jain, senior PRO, CR said, “We have been getting several complaints from the staff about passengers misbehaving with them for no fault of theirs. Hence, we have started a multimedia campaign; we are very optimistic about getting positive results from the passengers.”
Every now and then, motormen have been at the receiving end of passengers’ ire. Recently, a few passengers beat up motormen at Mankhurd and Kalyan stations after trains were found to be running late. “The passengers’ fury was uncalled for and ridiculous…how can we be responsible for any technical error? If such incidents continue, we will stop running trains,” a motorman from the CR said.