Title - MPs can book tickets on phone soon

Railway Minister Mukul Roy assured the Lok Sabha that a proposal from members to make available train reservation on demand on telephone would be considered. "I assure you, within three months this request would be considered by the Railway Board," Roy said during Question Hour.

BJP member Sanjay Dhotre had sought to know from the minister whether train reservation would be available on telephone on demand, even on the same day of travel.

Roy said to curb the activities of touts, 77,000 preventive checks have been carried out. He said since 2009, 5,125 touts have been chargesheeted of which 2370 have been convicted.

As many as 218 railway officials have been caught and 136 of them have been suspended and convicted, Roy said.

He listed a series of steps to increase transparency in the booking of reserved tickets, including Tatkal tickets.

Roy faced some tough moments as members complained that he was absent from Rail Bhawan for most of the time.

"The minister should inform the House when he will sit at Rail Bhawan regularly," a member was heard as saying in the House.

Another member said the minister was found more in Kolkata than in Delhi.

Roy, however, appeared to ignore these remarks and did not respond.