A passenger registered a complaint for making bedroll available. On arrival, officials found out that the passenger wanted the bedroll to be available even before boarding the train.

In yet another complaint, the passenger wanted his seat to be cleaned. The berth, however, had become dirty as the passenger’s child had urinated on it. Not stopping there, the passenger demanded that the cleaning staff be available every two hours during the entire journey as this was the interval at which the child urinated habitually.

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One more passenger of Sealdah-Lucknow Special, complained about bedroll not being available. On attending the complaint, the on duty staff was informed that since the passenger had boarded the train from some other stations than Sealdah, that was mentioned while booking, he could not find it on his berth. On 17 June, a passenger travelling in Ghazipur-Kolkata Express train demanded two additional bedrolls along with pillows. Another passenger on Padatik Express complained that the pillow was not available, later closing it saying that the pillow was being used by the fellow passenger.

A passenger asked for additional linen and pillows for a single seat and put this in complaint. Likewise, an onboard passenger of Kolkata-Jammu Tawi Express complained about a stinking toilet but later closed the complaint saying it was by mistake.

According to official sources, such are some of the numerous complaints that have been keeping the concerned staff of Rail Madad busy, of late. In Sealdah division alone, there were at least 15 ‘ingenious’ complaints in June registered by passengers in West Bengal. While most of them were cases of bedrolls being provided but not seen by passengers, some of them, even hilarious ones, kept the Rail Madad staff busy. On a few occasions, the divisional railway is also said to have noticed some passengers using the service for complaints and even threatening railway employees with dire consequences if their ‘undue’ demands are not met.

The railways ministry had introduced the Rail Madad portal as a grievance redressal mechanism to enable the passengers lodge a complaint or give suggestions through online, app, or SMS. It also enables tracking live status of complaints and provides feedback, based on passengers’ satisfaction with the resolution. However, with such instances, railways officials fear that the pouring of such complaints could mar the true spirit of the service that was introduced to provide quick response to the passengers in times of need. Such behaviour, according to officials, is not only unacceptable but also frustrates the basic objective of the app-based service. Also, misusing the service not only wastes the time of the officials but also deprives other passengers, who may have genuine grievances, from getting timely assistance.

“Please lodge a complaint only if you have a genuine concern related to train services and refrain from any misuse. Use Rail Madad responsibly and deal with railway staff with enough respect so as to enable us to provide you best possible service,” urged Mr Deepak Nigam, divisional railway manager of Sealdah. He also urged the passengers to cooperate with the railways and ensure that Rail Madad remains an effective tool for addressing passenger grievances.