Emergency means little at rly station

Emergency is an alien word for the railways, it seems, going by officials' response to such situations. The officials would act in a humane manner only if the person needing help had railway or platform ticket on him. Without a ticket, the person is at God's mercy.

A 24-year-old man, Neeraj Kumar, was found unconscious on the railway track on Saturday. Thankfully, the driver of Malwa Express spotted the man and stopped the train and saved his life. He was shifted aside and the train passed.

He kept on lying in between the railway track for good 20 minutes as no one dared to go and bring the person on to the platform.

A group of armypersonnel on the platform lifted the man and brought him to the platform. After nearly 45 minutes, a Railway Protection Force (RPF) jawan reached the scene, but instead of calling the ambulance or a doctor, he was enquiring if the man had ticket or not.

The armymen and co-passengers brought water, checked the pockets of passenger to find out his antecedents and started calling his relatives. When co-passengers asked the RPF jawan to call ambulance or his relative, he called Neeraj's office.

Nearly after 1.5 hours, man gained conscious and his wife Priyanka, who was waiting for him on the other side of station, came to the spot. Priyanka said, "Neeraj left her on platform saying he was going to buy tickets. Before that we had a fight." Both were then taken to RPF police station.

"Man was drunk and came to the station to commit suicide. RPF personnel should have taken care of the matter," said station superintendent RK Sharma.

"In such situations, it is the responsibility of each and every person to help till the police reach the spot. Neeraj fainted on the railway track. His wife said they wanted no medical aid. No case was registered," said Yashwant Singh, RPF inspector.

"A person with valid ticket only should enter the railway station. But if someone without ticket is present and face some problem, it's the duty of RPF, GRP and overall responsibility of station superintendent to save one's life first and then to take action accordingly. No one can be left unattended on the platform if he has no ticket," said NC Goyal, divisional railway manager (DRM), Ferozepur Divison.