Title - Rlys urged to open 24X7 booking counter

Bathinda:
The residents of the areas across the railway line have requested the railway authorities to provide 24x7 ticket vending services at the ticketing window located in the area. They have also demanded that the ticket window may be computerised so that speedy service is rendered to the residents.In a letter written to the station superintendent, the Bathinda West Welfare Organisation, representing the residents of areas like Parasram Nagar, Partap Nagar, SAS Nagar, Arjun Nagar, Jogi nagar, Tellian Mohalla, Multania Road, Gopal Nagar, Janta Nagar, Sanguana Basti, Lal Singh Basti, Sanjay Nagar and others, pointed out that the ticket window located in the area is closed most of the time. A spokesperson of the organisation, Des Raj Chhatariwala, said, "After much deliberations, we had managed to get a ticket window opened in the area. The window was to remain open from 6 am to 2 pm. For the past few months, the ticket window has remained closed and the railway authorities open it when they like. We are told that the window can't be opened every day since there is a shortage of staff."He added that when they took up the issue with the station superintendent, they were told to buy tickets from the Partap Nagar ticket window. "The Partap Nagar ticket window is run by a private vendor who charges Re 1 extra on every ticket. We suspect that the west side ticket window is kept close to favour the Partap Nagar ticket counter," he said.

When contacted, station superintendent Pradeep Sharma said, "I had received the letter and forwarded the request to the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Ambala. We are yet to get a reply from them."

The commercial movement inspector (CMI), Bathinda, MK Khan, maintained that the reason for the window being kept close was not the shortage of staff. "I will look into the matter. There are a few technical problems due to which the window has not been working smoothly. We are yet to install the UPS system there. The UPS system is important for ticketing. Once the system is in place, the window will be opened regularly."