Lessons in Sobriety

In Kerala, a drive has been launched against drunken train commuters

We all know of police campaigns against drunken driving but it takes Kerala to come up with a drive against drunken commuting. If you board a train in Kerala in an inebriated state, you will be caught, offloaded and have your tickets cancelled. In extreme circumstances, you could even be put behind bars for six months. Those who are found drunk on platforms will also be punished. Breath analysers will be used as well.

The Railways decided to conduct this drive after a series of unsavoury incidents against women. In one recent incident, a man called Sardar Deshmukh got into the ladies compartment of a passenger train and attacked women. He was arrested later. On 13 February, a German woman was allegedly sexually harassed by a 45-year-old man. She was travelling to Goa on the Ernakulum-Madgaon Express when the man made obscene gestures and tried to grab her.

MR Jayageetha, a poet and  research officer with the Planning Board of Kerala, allegedly faced harassment from railways employees. She was on board the Thiruvananthapuram–Chennai Superfast train on 15  February when two ticket examiners in another coach invited her to join them. When she refused, she says they insulted her. The officers were suspended, but the decision was revoked. The men say they had asked her to change the coach as she was not eligible to travel in first class with a season ticket. A police inquiry is on.

Safety commissioner of the Trivandrum Railway Protection Force Division KJ Joy informed the media that most of the men involved in these incidents were drunk. According to the new drive, if the offender is a railways employee, the jail term could be up to one year.

The drive has, however,  not got a warm welcome. Organisations and individuals are protesting. “It is highly impractical. This will only result in curtailing the mobility of passengers,” says CPI legislator VS Sunil Kumar. Jolly Chirayat of the Women’s Collective in Ernakulum, says, “The men who misbehave would do the same even if they were not drunk.” Meanwhile, 40 people have already been caught and had their tickets cancelled.

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Shahina KK