Title - Now, Kudumbashree to man railway counter

Owing to the mismanagement in the  functioning of the railway counter at the civil station in Kakkanad, the district administration has decided to hand over its operation to Kudumbashree.Earlier the railway counter was managed by ‘Akshaya’ centre. District Collector P I Sheik Pareeth said that such a decision was taken in the wake of increasing complaints against Akshaya.Its non-adherence to certain directives issued by the district administration is cited as one of the reasons to come up with such an alternative.“When the railway counter was started a year  ago, the district administration has asked the licensee to give jobs to physically-challenged people. But that was not heeded. Instead, the licensee has given jobs to his relatives which has made it an agency with single entrepreneurship. It has completely defeated the purpose,” Pareeth said.He said that with Kudumbashree taking charge of the railway counter, it can fetch the participation of many people. The railway counter will soon function in the ‘Mann veedu’ which was constructed in front of the civil station.When asked Vinod, the licensee of the Akshaya centre who managed the railway counter, said that we are deprived of the management of the counter for not a fault of ours. “The Akshaya has been running the centre for the past one year. There has not been a single complaint against us. Though we are not at default, we are abiding by the order of the Collector,” he said.

Sincymol Antony, district coordinator of  Kudumbashree, said that preparations are on to make all the necessary arrangements to shift the railway counter to ‘Mann veedu’. “The networking and other infrastructure needed for its functioning are being taken care of. Persons to work in the counter have been identified. We hope that its functioning could be resumed in a week,” she said. The Kudumbashree official also said the railway has assured special training for the personnel working in the railway counter.

Sheik Pareeth said that the reservation counter opening shortly in Mann veedu will have facilities to issue direct tickets for the passengers of 5 boarding stations namely Ernakulam, Tripunithura, Edappally, Kalamassery and Nettur.