the goan I network
MARGAO
Do touts and agents rule the roost at the Margao railway station ticket reservation counter when it comes to tatkal and other tickets?
In fact, the presence of touts and agents at the railway station ticket reservation counter came back to haunt innocent passengers, who even suspect a nexus between the touts and officials.
Otherwise, consider this. For the last three days, Shekhar Thakur, a passenger, who wanted a ticket to head to Hyderabad, had been making rounds of the Margao station reservation counter to lay his hand on a tatkal ticket, but in vain. Shekhar now says that during the last three days, he has only seen familiar faces standing in the queue for the tatkal ticket past midnight with the sole objective of pocketing the tickets.
“On the first day, I came to the railway station at around 2 am. I saw a number of people already sleeping at the counter. The same faces were seen the next day as I returned again as early as 3 am. The public had no access to the tatkal counter as there were people already sleeping there. I gave up my sleep for three days and had to encounter the mosquito menace at the station, but there was no ticket available for me,” Shekhar lamented.
He lodged his complaint with the Margao station master, who directed him to some other officer to lodge his complaint, but in vain.
“I only want to ask one question, why are the tatkal tickets not available for the common man. How can the agents and touts pockets all the tickets,” he said, while demanding justice for the common passengers.
A resident of Dandeavaddo-Chinchinim, Savio Lopes has been more forthright in alleging a nexus between the touts and the officials.
“I don’t think it is a coincidence that tickets are available with the touts and agents than at the railway station. This only goes to the show the nexus between some unscrupulous officials and the agents,” Lopes said, while demanding a probe into the matter.
Lopes said that the government had gone to town saying that the Konkan railway will help people travel to various destinations without much difficulty. “Will the government intervene on behalf of the people to ensure that train tickets are available for Goans travelling to various destinations and that they are not forced to approach the agents and touts for the tickets,” Savio questioned, saying it is obvious that agents and touts cannot pocket the tickets without the presence of a nexus with the officials.
