RPF men to face pay cut for not curbing illegal hawkers on Western Railway

The Western Railway (WR) has decided to dig deep into its railway rulebook to ensure that its property is free of encroachers. And this time, instead of the encroacher, the penalty will be on the ‘sentinels’ of the property.

Railway Police Force (RPF) officials found to be looking the other way, even as hawkers peddle their wares on railway property, will now find part of their monthly compensation sum subtracted.

The move, railway officials insist, will deter corruption and check illegal encroachment.

RPF’s senior divisional security commissioner Anand Vijay Jha, who heads its operations in the WR zone, took the decision last week.

He said the penalty would be reflected in the salaries of the officials concerned next week onwards. The pay cuts will be anywhere from a day’s to a week’s salary, said Mr Jha.

“We have implemented a rule that was already in the book, but had not been used earlier. If an RPF official has been informed about illegal hawking on railway property either through a written complaint or the help line, and it is found that no action has been taken, then he will be deemed liable to forfeit a day’s or week’s salary, depending on the severity of the crime,” said Mr Jha.

Hawking is a nuisance for commuters as their access paths to stations or on foot-over-bridges are blocked. This will be a big step towards deterring corruption within the RPF, said Mr Jha. It has been alleged that a few personnel are in the habit of taking bribes from hawkers to turn a blind eye to their activities, he said.

Mr Jha said the outcome of the new initiative would be felt in October. He has also asked commuters to send their complaints on WhatsApp with pictures to the number 9004499718.

The Western Railway has registered 9,607 cases of hawking till August this year and has realised a fine of Rs 47,21,987 so far.