Indian Railways are getting unsafer by the year

It was like something out of a Bollywood caper. Despite the police protection that accompanies money from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) travelling from one spot to another, Rs 5 crore disappeared from a moving train last month. It was a daring heist that left the police scratching their head. Out of the Rs 342 crore cash being sent to RBI in Chennai, someone took Rs 5 crore.

Serious as the crime might be, there’s a Robin Hood-quality to this particular incident that makes the robbery applaud-worthy. What it hints at, however, is a very grave issue: security in the Indian Railways.

According to the recently-released National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, there has been a 52 per cent rise in registered crimes on railways – from 25,737 in 2011 to 39,239 in 2015, with a 24 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) increase from 2014 to 2015. This is the highest ever y-o-y rise in the past five years.

As many as 29,686 theft cases were registered in 2015, an increase of 28 per cent from 23,231 in 2014, while kidnapping & abduction cases increased marginally from 265 in 2014 to 270 in 2015.

State-wise, the highest number of crimes in railways registered in Maharashtra followed by Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Delhi’s reputation as a crime capital remained firm here as well – it was ranked fifth in terms of crimes in railways.

Most alarming is the sharp increase in the number of violent crimes that appear to be taking place in trains and at railway stations.

As many as 247 murder cases in railways’ properties were registered in 2015, a decline of 20 per cent from 309 in 2015. However, the number of rape cases increased by 66 per cent (from 44 in 2014 to 73 in 2015). West Bengal reported the highest number of murder cases on railways at 32, followed by Bihar and Haryana, while Maharashtra and Delhi recorded the highest number of rapes at 15 each.

One reason that crimes on trains and at stations are considered separately is that the Railways have their own security staff – the Railway Protection Force – who are entrusted with passenger safety. It has the power to arrest, investigate and prosecute criminals. As a result, someone who has committed a crime on a train isn’t able to get away because they’ve got out of a state police’s area of jurisdiction. However, what the data suggests is that the RPF isn’t adequate to handle the threat that it’s facing.

In June this year, S Swathi, a 24-year-Infosys employee was brutally murdered in broad daylight at the Nungambakkam Railway Station in Chennai. The incident triggered huge outrage on social media and raised concerns about safety of women. The investigation in still ongoing, but in response to the incident, Southern Railway has roped in Special Forces of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) to enhance the safety of women passengers. Companies of the Special Forces drawn from the Centre have been deployed on trains and railway stations as part of the intensified security arrangements on railway premises. Southern Railway Additional General Manager P.K. Mishra told The Hindu that “Closed circuit television” (CCTV) network would be established in all suburban stations in Chennai Division by the end of March 2017. Funds were allocated for the installation of surveillance cameras in 136 stations in the zone, of which 82 were in the Chennai Division.

Prevention of crime, registration of cases and maintenance of law and order over station premises and trains is the statutory responsibility of states, which is being discharged by them through Government Railway Police (GRP) and 50 per cent cost of GRPs is born by Railways.

GRP is a wing of the state police and functions within respective state boundaries and about 38,000 GRP personnel are deployed by different states over Indian railways, according to a Lok Sabha reply given by Minister of State (MoS) for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha in December 2015.

Sinha’s response further states that a total of 202 railway stations have been identified for installation of Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras, under integrated Security System (ISS) over Indian Railways. Of these, CCTV cameras have been installed at over 88 stations under ISS and at 114 stations, installation of CCTVs is under process. On an average, 2,000 trains are escorted by RPF personnel daily and the escorts in long distance trains run in continuity in batches, covering the whole distance during the nights.

In June this year, the Railways announced a plan to set up 35,000 CCTV cameras that will scan every corner of 1,000 railway stations. It would utilise Rs 500 crore from Centre’s Nirbhaya Fund. The project has been accorded top priority as the Finance Ministry sanctioned it within three days of the meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office and allocated Rs 200 crore of dividend-free money for this financial year.

The project would not overlap with the existing, now age-old project of installing surveillance cameras in 200-odd stations which Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha had mentioned in his Lok Sabha response.

As India moves ahead with the massive Rs 1 lakh crore bullet train project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, it may serve well for Suresh Prabhu to have a detailed look at NCRB statistics and decide as whether passengers need safety first or swanky bullet trains.