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People walking along railway tracks in Dimapur. The Indian Railways on Thursday announced that it would accept soft copies of Aadhar and driving licence provided they are in the DigiLocker, a digital storage service operated by the government.[/caption]
Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, Aug. 6: While many Nagas travel to and fro between Nagaland's commercial hub Dimapur and Assam's Guwahati, passengers from Nagaland continue to suffer.
The Guwahati-Dimapur Nagaland Express that was to arrive at Dimapur from Guwahati Railway Station on Saturday night, August 4, was stalled for more than two hours due to a protest by irate passengers of Nagaland.
The reason: the Dimapur-bound passengers who had bought tickets for a 2AC coach on Nagaland Express were made to board a 3AC coach. They were refused a refund.
According to news sources, the 2AC coaches were not attached to the train as they were not in ‘condition’ and only the 3 AC coaches were available.
The irate passengers reportedly questioned why the Northeast Frontier Railways were still issuing tickets if the 2AC tier coaches were not in use.
It is known that due to the large volume of people who travel to Guwahati from Nagaland, the services of Nagaland Express, and BG Express were started. But many times, passengers from Nagaland claim to have been “sidelined”, or be at the receiving end of step-motherly treatment from the railway authorities.
Enraged at the “discrimination” they reportedly faced at the Guwahati Railway Station on the night of August 4, the passengers made the stationmaster write a statement that the coach was not made available to the passengers from Dimapur.
One of the passengers was informed to have had a conversation on the night via phone with Ashish Sharma, the division railway manager of Lumding Division, demanding immediate action. The passengers demanded that a coach be provided immediately after enquiring and checking for a usable coach at “their shed.”
The passengers threatened to sue the railways for causing mental harassment to hundreds of passengers.
The cost of ticket to a 2AC tier is INR 700 and a 3AC fare is INR 495. The difference was INR 205 for each passenger, which was not refunded by the authorities.
