The ongoing agitation by the Jat community, demanding reservation in central government jobs, has had a major impact on the functioning of the Northern Railway leading to the cancellation of over 650 trains. Northern Railway runs more than 9,500 trains in a week.
The Jats have been sitting on railway tracks between the national capital and Moradabad in UP for the last 15 days.
Almost all trains on the Delhi-Lucknow rail link have been either cancelled or diverted but there has been no effort from the centre or the state governments to end the stir. While the agitation has left thousands of passengers stranded at a time when the Holi season is at its peak, Indian Railways, the operator of the country’s largest transport network, is waiting helplessly for the protests to subside.
The protest, called by the Akhil Bharatiya Jat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti (ABJASS), has forced Indian railways to cancel 654 trains and divert another 401. In all, more than 1,286 trains and 7,66,000 passengers have been impacted, creating a Rs 5 crore hole in railways’ revenues. For comparison, even the last year’s Gujjar agitation had led to cancelling or diversion of around 50 trains.
“I cannot remember when was the last time train services were disrupted at such a massive scale. Almost all the tracks have been occupied by the protesters,” said a senior Indian railways official. Indicating how the situation could become uncontrolled soon, another official said: “Even the alternate routes have become saturated. A solution has to come immediately.”
The cancelled trains include flagship services like Delhi-Lucknow, Delhi-Rohtak, Delhi-Faizabad and Delhi-Varanasi Intercity Express. People who had booked tickets months in advance are being forced to take buses to their destinations. Buses, too, have been running at full capacity, which is not much of a comfort to the commuters.
Interestingly, while thousands of commuters are left to deal with the crisis, there has not been a single statement from Railway minister Mamata Banerjee detailing efforts to douse the rising anger. In the absence of a clear policy, rail ministry officials have little option but to hold inconclusive talks with the Jat leaders and blame the state government for its inability to maintain law and order.
Reacting to media reports of the uncontrolled situation, the Allahabad High Court had yesterday took suo motu cognizance directing the protesters to remove blockades on rail tracks. It had also directed UP principal secretary (Home), the Director General of Police (DGP) and the union home secretary, the chairman of the Railway Board to hold joint meeting and ensure clearance of tracks at the earliest.
