Confirmation of Tickets under Emergency Quota: Lok Sabha QA

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 995
TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.02.2023

CONFIRMATION OF TICKETS UNDER EMERGENCY QUOTA

995. SHRI Y. DEVENDRAPPA:
SHRI SUNIL KUMAR SINGH:
SHRI SHIVAKUMAR C. UDASI:
SHRI DILIP SAIKIA:
Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a) whether very less Railway Tickets are getting confirmed under emergency quota against the letters issued by the Members of Parliament particularly in the trains passing from Delhi or from their respective Lok Sabha Constituencies and if so, the reasons therefor;

(b) whether some people are getting their tickets confirmed unlawfully through agents and if so, whether any measures have been taken by the Government to discontinue the said practice;

(c) whether the Government is considering to confirm the tickets favourably against the letters issued by the Members of Parliament, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and

(d) whether the Government is considering on switching the requests for getting the railway tickets confirmed through VIP quota to online mode, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

ANSWER
MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (c) : In order to meet the urgent travel requirements of High Official Requisition (HOR) holders, which includes’ Central Government Ministers, Judges of Hon’ble Supreme Court/High Courts of various States, Members of Parliament and other emergent demands, who are on the waiting list, a limited accommodation is earmarked as Emergency Quota in different trains and in different classes. The quota is released by the Railways in accordance with the priority as per warrant of precedence and well-established practice being followed since long. At the time of allotment of accommodation, emergency quota is first allotted for self travel of HOR holders/Members of Parliament, etc., strictly as per their inter-se seniority in warrant of precedence. Thereafter, other requisitions received from various quarters including those from Hon’ble Members of Parliament are considered and the remaining quota is released taking into account various factors like nature of urgency like travelling on government duty, bereavement in the family, sickness, job interview, etc. While the requests forwarded by Hon’ble MPs (for other than self-travel) are generally complied with, at times, particularly during week-ends and peak periods, when demand exceeds the availability, it is not feasible to accommodate all such requests.

Some instances of getting accommodation released out of Emergency Quota on account of fake letterheads of high dignitaries have come to notice. With a view to prevent malpractices, reservation requests received from various quarters for release of accommodation out of Emergency Quota are checked from time to time and in case where there is a doubt about the genuineness of the request/letter, the position is checked up by speaking to the concerned person on phone. Instructions on this account which already exist are reiterated from time to time. Further, when there is gap in demand and supply of reserved accommodation, particularly during peak rush periods, efforts are made to bridge this gap by planning holiday special trains during the peak rush periods, putting on extra coaches to meet the day-to-day requirements and increasing the number of coaches on permanent basis in those trains which have high demand and patronage, subject to operational feasibility. (Moreover, random checks are conducted in association with Vigilance Organisation. If any Railway official is found involved in any irregularity, the official is taken up under Disciplinary & Appeal Rules. The process of checks and tightening of procedures is a continuous activity and is closely monitored.

(d): With a view to avoid misuse of facility of release of accommodation out of Emergency Quota by unscrupulous elements, the emergency quota is released based on written requests received from authorized officers. At present, there is no proposal under consideration to accept such requests through any online mode of communications.

Source: Lok Sabha