Breakfast served to troops at 5 pm, trains 25 hours late: CRPF flags poll travel chaos

New Delhi: Thousands of security personnel deployed for assembly election duty across five states were forced to endure long delays, overcrowded coaches, and disrupted meal schedules as special trains carrying them ran up to 25 hours behind schedule, the CRPF has told the Railway Board.

In a detailed communication sent by the Central Reserve Police Force's Inspector General (Operations), the force highlighted a series of logistical and operational challenges faced by personnel deployed for election duties in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.

One of the most serious concerns raised was the disruption of food supplies due to train delays. According to the CRPF, troops often received meals several hours behind schedule, with some personnel reportedly being served breakfast only at around 5 pm.

The letter, sent before the completion of the final phase of polling in West Bengal on April 29, also sought better arrangements for the return journey of deployed forces.

Responding to the concerns, Railway Board officials said corrective measures were taken after the issues were brought to their attention.

According to the letter, out of 230 election special trains operated to ferry troops, around 200 experienced significant delays.

"Over 150 Election Special Trains experienced extreme delays and reached their terminating stations late by 10-15 hours, whereas 50 Election Special Trains reached their destinations late by 20-25 hours," the letter said.

The cascading effect of these delays severely disrupted the planned on-board catering schedule.

"Inordinate delay in the running of trains had a cascading effect on the supply of scheduled on-board meals to the troops," the letter noted, adding that on several occasions personnel received their first meal i.e. breakfast only by 1700 hours (5 pm)," the letter stated.

The CRPF also said efforts by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to adjust meal timings proved ineffective due to the unpredictability of train delays.

The communication further flagged wastage of crucial man-hours due to delays.

The CRPF further stated that operational concerns extended beyond delays as insufficient number of coaches were provided on several trains.

"Despite placing the demand of 24 Coaches in each Election Special Trains, several trains with only 19-20 coaches were provided, which were extremely inadequate to smoothly accommodate 10-11 Coys and associated luggage/stores items," the letter stated.

"Reports were received wherein troops were crammed and forced to settle in the overcrowded trains, resulting in extreme hardship during their long and arduous journey," it stated.

Raising concerns about the watering and cleaning of coaches, the Inspector General (Operations) said that, on several occasions, these services were not carried out at designated railway stations as per the train itinerary. This resulted in unhygienic conditions in coaches and adversely affected the health and comfort of personnel, especially women personnel. PTI