Mangalore, June 29: MP Nalin Kumar Kateel visited the local railway authorities on June 28, Monday, inspected the current state of affairs at the Mangalore Railway Station and gave a few suggestions for improvement.
Pointing out the current disorder at booking counters, he said that this is because tickets are not sold at all the counters available for the purpose. The minister suggested that the railways employ Kannada-speaking staff at the sales counters so that people can obtain information and tickets quickly. He also suggested the employment of a Kannada-speaking clerk at the information centre. The railway department requires more employees who speak local languages, he said.
Observing that the reservation booking counter did not have a separate person to answer phone calls, he said that the same person who sells the tickets must answer the phone too, leading to delay in the sale of tickets. He suggested a separate counter with Kannada-speaking staff to provide information to the people.
The Mangalore Central Terminal lacks a platform ticket vending machine, forcing people to stand in queues just to purchase a platform ticket. A separate counter for the sale of platform tickets is therefore the need of the hour, said the MP.
The senior officials, who heard these suggestions, said that they will do whatever is within their power to implement these suggestions and will forward the same to higher authorities.
Jayaram Rai, the member of the Phalghat Division Advisory Committee; Nitin Kumar, the vice president of DK BJP; and Sathish Prabhu, a district committee member of BJP accompanied the MP.