In a bid to popularise the achievements of the Central government, Indian Railways has decided to set up permanent selfie points at prominent railway stations across the country. The Railway Board recently issued a letter to all authorities concerned with the directive to set up an average of 20 selfie booths at prominent stations of each zones featuring a photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with government accomplishments.
This move has sparked discontent among passenger associations who demand that these funds need to be allocated for improving passenger amenities instead.
Over a hundred of prominent railway stations across India already have temporary selfie points that highlight government achievements with images of PM Modi. These temporary setups were created in the past months at an average cost of around Rs 1 lakh each. Now, the government intends to replace these temporary installations with permanent structures, each estimated to cost around Rs 6 lakh, totaling around Rs 18 crore to Rs 20 crore.
Temporary selfie points failed to garner attention
According to sources, these selfie points aim to promote government initiatives such as Skill India, Start-Up India, and Digital India. However, these temporary selfie points failed to attract significant attention, leading to the decision to create more attractive and enduring installations.
However, rail passengers activists have expressed dissatisfaction and argue that the advertisement through these selfie points places a burden on the railway and may diverts funds from essential amenities.
The President of the Suburban Passengers Association, Nandkumar Deshmukh, alleged that the railways of misleading passengers by allocating funds to selfie points instead of improving passenger amenities.
"The railways need to focus enhancing passenger amenities at the stations in stead of setting up these selfie points " said another passenger activist.
