In an attempt to improve passenger and goods facilities in the services of railway, a meeting of the Divisional Committee comprising of Members of Parliament (MPs) both from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha under jurisdiction of Chakradharpur and Ranchi Divisions of  South Eastern Railway (SER) was held at Rourkela on Wednesday.

The Divisional Committee Meeting was chaired by Member of Parliament, Sundargarh, Odisha, Jual Oram. The other MPs who attended the meeting were Bidyut Baran Mahato, Geeta Koda, Bishweswar Tudu, Mamata Mahanta, Nitesh Ganga Deb, Suresh Pujari, Sanjay Seth, Mahesh Poddar, joined the meeting through Video Conferencing. The MPs offered their valuable suggestions for overall development of SER.

 The MPs praised the different works undertaken by Railways especially in respect of cleanliness of railway premises and station development. They also mentioned about the dedicated service of the railway employees during the lock down and post lock down period especially in running of Parcel Express Trains carrying essential commodities and Shramik Special Trains for bringing back the migrant workers to their home states during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The MPs held discussions on various issues associated with train services, stoppages, passenger facilities and expeditious completion of railway projects and others for the benefit of the passengers. The MPs of the Divisional Committee of Chakradharpur and Ranchi Divisions assured their cooperation for the smooth functioning of the railway.General Manager, SER, Sanjay Kumar Mohanty while welcoming the MP highlighted the services rendered by SER to its users in respect of passenger amenities, resumption of trains in post lock down period, running of special trains, status of ongoing projects and others General Manager also stated that the suggestions offered by the MPs for development of passenger amenities and railway infrastructure would be reviewed with proper importance.

The meeting was attended by the Divisional Railway Manager, Chakradharpur and Ranchi Divisions and all the Principal Head of the Departments of South Eastern Railway.     

MPs and senior railway officials during a meeting on Wednesday. Pix by Vinay Murmu

The necessity of holding this kind of High Level Meeting is to have direct communication between railway administration and the MPs for exchange of information and innovative ideas to improve passenger amenities, safety and security and to sustain the confidence of travelling public as well as rail users.