As the summer months begin, Pune Railway Station experiences a surge in the number of north Indian migrant workers eager to return to their hometowns. While the reasons for their journeys home vary from year to year, this time, it is primarily for voting in the Lok Sabha elections for most of them. Speaking to The Free Press Journal, many migrant workers revealed that political parties have stepped in to assist them in securing their tickets for the journey to ensure they can participate in the electoral process and cast their family's votes.
Ravi Mishra, who recently reached his hometown Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh, said, "I decided to go home, but it was tough to get confirmed tickets. However, our local politician arranged the tickets of the sleeper class and requested us to vote for his party."
Baldev Tiwari, who was employed in the Ranjangaon MIDC area, said, "My ticket was confirmed for Lucknow because I had booked it four months earlier. Confirming your ticket just a few days before the scheduled date is impossible. I am primarily going to my hometown to exercise my right to vote."
Vinay Kashyap, a native of Bihar, said, "Politicians are requesting us to come to the village to vote. They are also promising to book our tickets according to our preference. In the five-year tenure, no one took any notice of our conditions. Now they need us to vote to win, so they are begging us to come home."
The railway administration has scheduled around 246 summer special trains to several north Indian cities from Pune this year. Despite this, they are becoming insufficient due to the increase in the number of passengers.
Senior Divisional Commercial Manager Dr Milind Hirve expressed, "Many young people and workers had come from north India for jobs, education, and business in the city. This year, due to the Lok Sabha elections, the crowd of people going to vote has increased. Despite planning to release 246 special trains from the Pune section of the Central Railway during the three-month rush season from April to June, they are becoming insufficient even though they have a capacity of 1,500 to 1,600 passengers in a single train." "We have increased the security staff as well to manage the crowd," added Hirve.
Additional RPF staff deployed for crowd management
Additional Railway Protection Force (RPF) staff have been deployed at the Pune Railway Station to manage the crowd travelling to north Indian cities by summer special trains. Additionally, extra ticket collectors have been stationed at the station to apprehend defaulters. Senior Divisional Commercial Manager Dr Milind Hirve was himself seen taking charge of crowd management inspections inside coaches, prioritising passenger comfort and safety.
