Unusual Demand of Tips by Railways House Keeping/Catering Staffs

While traveling in 12245 Duronto Express [Coach - H1, Berth - F] on my way to Bangalore on 7^th & 8^th September, 2012, I was shocked by the poor services provided in AC1 Coach by House Keeping Staffs in particular; the toilets were too dirty. They were not cleaning the toilets frequently for use of passengers on board for 2 running days in spite of repeated reminders by us. But, at the closing hour of journey on the 2nd day (08/09/2012) they were demanding tips as if it was mandatory. I understand that Railways has outsourced services from some good contractors; so, the concerned wing of Railways should take up the matter with the particular contractor on duty and advise them against demand of such tips from passengers. If a passenger is satisfied with services of Pantry/House Keeping Personnel then he/she will voluntarily offer tips to them; there is no need to demand such tips. Concurrently, Railways should enforce strict guidelines against demand/offer of such tips from the passengers on board. If caught red handed for such offense, he should be punished as per law.

                                            

                                            Complaint lodged in Twitter/Railways on 15/09/2012

An Unbearable Loss for Our Country

We deeply mourn the sad demise of Dr. Verghese Kurien on last Sunday, 2012 at an old age of 90. He was a Syrian Christian turned Gujarati Indian; a prodigy, true visionary of white revolution of cooperative movement in India from a small village in Anand of Gujarat in 1949. After a long innings of 58 years and by the time he handed over the baton in 2006, India has become world’s largest milk producer country. He elevated the cooperative movement of millions of women and farmers of India to a sky high position with a memorable brand name - “Amul”. I am of the firm opinion that he strongly deserves posthumous “Bharat Ratna” award by the Union Government of India for the year 2012.