KOCHI: With the Railway Employees Union expressing displeasure over the Railways engaging private parties in vending reservation tickets at varying rates, the Railways has given indications of opening a parallel counter in Thrikkakara.The agitation began after the employees came to know that the recently-opened reservation counter in Thrikkakara would be manned by Akshaya, a state government-backed private agency. As a mark of protest the Southern Railways Mazdoor Union (SRMU) had all the counters under the southern division closed for 15 minutes on Saturday. The union said that when there were sufficient staff to operate the counters why should the management outsource the work. Also, they were against the extra charge of `15 levied on each ticket. The Railways has come out with a plan to open a parallel centre in Kakkanad to issue ordinary tickets. Ernakulam Railway Area Manager George John said, “The centre will be similar to the those in Vytilla, South and North areas.” They plan to charge Re 1 on each ticket.SRMU Division president P Unnikrishnan said, “Akshaya is charging `10 for booking sleeper tickets, ` 15 for three tier A/C, `20 for first class A/C at the centre in Kakkanad. If the reservation counter is given to the railway employees, the issue of extra money would not have risen.”But George said, “We have handed over the duty of the reservation counter in Kakkanad to the local bodies as part of the policy. This reservation counter was part of the 2009 budget policy by which each MP can set up one such reservation counter in his or her constituency. “Even though the entire work of the reservation counter is part of the local bodies responsibility, the railway management will be training the Akshaya reservation clerks,” George John said.
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