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Staff shortage forces railway police to increase duty hours at Ludhiana station
Officers said the staff shortage has resulted in the decreased efficiency of patrolling teams deputed around the tracks at the Ludhiana railway station
Security staff shortage at the state’s busiest railway station has overburdened the handful of officers deputed here.
Notably, 14 Punjab Armed Police (PAP) staff who were earlier stationed here with the Government Railway Police (GRP) and sent for the Punjab assembly election duties in February have not returned, adding to the trouble of the railway security forces, who were already struggling with the staff shortage.
Senior officials said GRP has been forced to increase the working hours of the staff deputed at the station.
“Since we are struggling with staff crunch, we have increased the shift timings of the patrolling teams too. Earlier they used to work eight hours in a shift but now the shift timings have been increased up to 12 hours to manage the workload,” a senior official, who did not wish to be named, said.
Speaking about the decreased efficiency of patrolling teams around the tracks in the wake of the staff shortage, an officer said, “We have less than 50 people here in Ludhiana GRP. Out of these, a few remain busy with the court work, administrative jobs and other field jobs. There are merely two people deputed in Sahnewal and they are also managing the patrolling.”
GRP officials here have written to General of Police, Punjab, special director Sanjeev Kalra, asking him to heighten the security cover at the railway station. It is learnt that Kalra has requested the PAP to send the force back to Ludhiana at the earliest.
The security at the railway station was beefed up after one person was killed and six were injured in the Ludhiana Court blast on December 23 last year. Security agencies have received inputs pertaining to threats at the railway station in the recent past as well.
Lone baggage scanner lying defunct
The only baggage scanner at the railway station is lying defunct for the past few days, adding to the security risks.
No staff personnel were seen near the machine or the entry gate to check the luggage and people were seen entering the station even without being frisked by the security staff.
When asked, Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel said the machine was not operational.
The RPF has also removed the new scanners that were recently installed at the crossing over bridge at the railway station following the staff shortage. Officials said the Railway Protection Special Force (RPSF) staff was deputed near the new scanners, but they had to be removed in the absence of the required number of officers
Superintendent of police, GRP, dramaKaur said repeated requests for scaling security measures were made to the senior GRP officials, adding, “We have been told that more staff would soon be joining us here in Ludhiana as we had submitted repeated requests to the higher authorities regarding the same. Our teams remain on their toes and are managing well but more staff will definitely increase the efficiency of the railway police.”
