Title - Rlys go slow on security demand

Even as anti-social elements continue to target women passengers, the railways is yet to decide on a state government demand to post more security personnel on trains.
    Though 286 trains pass through the state, the railway police have only about 430 personnel in their 13 stations. This is in addition to about 700 Railway Protection Force personnel deployed in the Trivandrum and Palakkad railway divisions.
    The demand for augmenting security cover for trains assumed momentum after the rape and murder of Soumya near Shornur in February 2011. The state and the railways share 50% each of the cost for deploying state police personnel, known as the government railway police (GRP) staff.
    Three months ago, a government order was issued for deploying 200 personnel from the state police on passing through the state. The railways, however, wanted to scale down the number of personnel to 100, and has been trying to delay the deployment by raising various queries, sources said.
    “One of the questions railways asked was whether the GO had the concurrence of the state finance department. They probably are unaware that state government will not issue a GO without the concurrence of its finance wing. The railways was also insisting initially that our personnel must buy tickets for boarding trains to provide security cover to passengers. We flatly refused,’’ a senior state police officer said.
    Meanwhile, even as the state and railways lock horns over providing security cover to trains, instances of attacks on women passengers have been steadily increasing from 16 in 2010 to 39 in 2011 and 85 in 2012, the official said. The RPF personnel’s duty mainly is to protect the railway properties and they cannot take interfere of normal criminal cases.
    Deploying more state police personnel, who can book cases against offenders under the CrPC, would have enhanced the passengers’ security, the officer said.
    When contacted V K Dhaka, chief security commissioner of RPF at the Southern Railway headquarters, said that the proposal to deploy more state police personnel in trains had been forwarded to the railway board. He, however, ruled out the possibility of deploying more RPF personnel in Kerala saying that vacancies were all filled up.