An advertisement that I saw last week really made me sit up. Issued by the Vigilance Organisation of the North Central Railway, it exhorted passengers to raise their voice against railway staff indulging in corrupt practices!

“Kindly help the NC Rly in (its ) crusade against any harassment by railway staff by giving online information about their unjust acts!” said the blurb. It then went on to “question the railway employees for asking more money than the authorised due charges and report immediately about misbehaviour and forcible charging”.

That was not all. “Kindly contact us from your mobile or any other means on any of the following numbers” the ad said and gave four telephone numbers and the names of vigilance inspectors. “Acting on your information, all best efforts will be made to enquire into the malpractices and your journey will be made hassle free,” the advertisement promised. It ended with two slogans: “Committed to provide transparent services” and “Serving customers with a smile”. The ad copy was bad; I could manage to get through to only one telephone number after repeated efforts and of course the ad failed to give the website or the e-mail ID on which one could pass on information online. But despite all that, one could appreciate the good intentions behind the large advertisement.

Of course, the railways need to do much more. They must actually provide 24-hour toll free numbers on which any passenger can call and complain for quick redress. In fact, consumers will only complain if they are assured of being heard. And of action being taken on those complaints. So the railways have to ensure that. And this could well be the beginning of an earnest campaign to rid the railways of corrupt staff.

Here I refer particularly to the Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE). He is the face of the largest public utility service in the country. But unfortunately, the image of the TTE does not reflect the railways’ motto: “Serving consumers with a smile”. In fact, if anything, the word TTE brings to mind the picture of someone out to harass you, to make a fast buck out of you. Some of the complaints filed before the consumer courts about harassment of law-abiding passengers only magnify this image.

So if the railways really mean what they say in their advertisement, then they must ensure that TTEs and other front-office staff serve the passengers with a smile and exhibit honesty in their work.