{"id":191541,"date":"2022-06-21T21:06:41","date_gmt":"2022-06-21T15:36:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=191541"},"modified":"2022-06-21T21:06:41","modified_gmt":"2022-06-21T15:36:41","slug":"flaming-question-why-is-it-so-easy-to-burn-trains-because-effective-rpf-local-police-coordination-is-missing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/flaming-question-why-is-it-so-easy-to-burn-trains-because-effective-rpf-local-police-coordination-is-missing\/","title":{"rendered":"Flaming question: Why is it so easy to burn trains? Because effective RPF, local police coordination is missing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

News<\/strong>: Over 500 trains were cancelled recently following protests against Agnipath scheme. The cancellation follows instances of arson and wilful destruction of railway property.<\/p>\n

Yet again, Indian Railways (IR) has been made collateral damage.<\/p>\n

Cancellations not only directly inconvenience millions but undermine the economy, as railway rakes transport 3.3 million tons of freight daily, mainly coal.<\/p>\n

This senseless destruction and related disruption should be stopped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Between FY-2016 and FY-2020, losses on passenger service rose from Rs 36,286 crore to Rs 63,364 crore. Given GoI\u2019s fiscal challenges and limited rail budgets, willy-nilly people dependent on train travel will suffer.<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
Who is responsible for security of Indian Railways (IR)?<\/h5>\n

IR\u2019s security is overseen by its own force, Railway Protection Force (RPF), and backed by central legislation.<\/p>\n

–<\/strong> RPF is empowered to arrest without a magistrate\u2019s order<\/strong> and in 2019 its handpicked personnel were given commando training.<\/p>\n

As trains crisscross states, state governments also come into the picture. Government Railway Police (GRP)<\/strong>, and local police<\/strong> assist in safeguarding railway assets and passengers.<\/p>\n

–<\/strong> GRP is funded equally by IR and states, but is under the administrative control of the local government.<\/p>\n

Why IR\u2019s security performance is still unsatisfactory?<\/h5>\n

It\u2019s because of gaps in coordination with the state police<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

This was examined in detail in a 2011 CAG performance audit of IR\u2019s security.<\/p>\n

–<\/strong> GRP and state police forces handle security of trains, tracks and railway premises, while RPF protects properties and consignments. The performance of local policing is influenced by a state government\u2019s political signalling.<\/p>\n

Consequently, the leeway agitations get has a direct impact on IR\u2019s assets.<\/p>\n

In this unfavourable environment, CAG\u2019s report observed that a unified overseeing arrangement<\/strong> between RPF and state police is missing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In short, there are coordination problems that IR has not addressed<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Way forward<\/h5>\n

RPF, headed by a police officer on deputation, needs to strengthen its coordination protocols with local police. Trains shouldn’t be such easy targets for arsonists.<\/p>\n

Source<\/strong>: This post is based on the article \u201cFlaming question: Why is it so easy to burn trains? Because effective RPF, local police coordination is missing<\/strong>\u201d published in The Times of India<\/strong> on 20th June 22<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

News: Over 500 trains were cancelled recently following protests against Agnipath scheme. The cancellation follows instances of arson and wilful destruction of railway property. Yet again, Indian Railways (IR) has been made collateral damage. Cancellations not only directly inconvenience millions but undermine the economy, as railway rakes transport 3.3 million tons of freight daily, mainly… Continue reading Flaming question: Why is it so easy to burn trains? Because effective RPF, local police coordination is missing<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10328,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[216,10496],"class_list":["post-191541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-gs-paper-3","tag-times-of-india","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":2,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1698056588},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10328"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191541\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}