Crime on trains, rail premises on rise

IoT platforms, artificial intelligence, big data - Indian railways may be moving to big-time modernisation but crime on trains and railway premises remains an issue, which may call for urgent attention by authorities.

A comparison of data set of the past seven years suggests there is a phenomenal 618% rise in cases of theft of passenger belongings, which rose from 5,179 in 2012 to 37,189 in 2019.

The latest data of theft in railways tabled in Parliament, also shows that Rs 66 crore worth of passengers’ belongings were stolen from railway premises in 2019 alone, while Rs 96 lakh worth of consignments booked through the national transporter were purloined in the same year.

The data reveals a steady rise in cases of theft of passenger belongings year after year in between 2012 and 2015 when it increased from a little over 5,000 to 9,000 cases. The increase in cases, however, was rapid post-2016. There were a little above 22,000 cases of theft in 2016 but it reached over 33,000 a year later and hit more than 37,000 cases last year.

Though the transport behemoth is operated by the Ministry of Railways, policing remains a state subject.

Hence, prevention of crime, registration of cases, their investigation and maintenance of law and order in Railway premises as well as on running trains are the statutory responsibility of the state governments.

The state governments discharge this duty through Government Railway Police (GRP). However, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) supplements the efforts of GRP to provide better protection and security of passenger area and passengers and for matters.

The data shows, the efforts on the part of state government is far from satisfactory. Of 37,189 cases registered for theft of passengers’ belongings in railway premises for a total value of Rs 65.81 crore in 2019, only 5,887 offenders have been nabbed in this connection.

Incidentally, the second largest railway system in the world, Indian Railways, which transports 1.3 crore passengers every day, is much under scanner for its safety-related concerns. Social media is often flooded with passengers airing their grievances from rodents proving to be a big nuisance for passengers to the theft of their belongings.

Interestingly, railways also have in their possession, the left behind or unclaimed parcels worth Rs 53 lakh in their lost property zonal offices but those cannot be claimed after a specified period.