Md. Moniruzzaman:
The historic Mymensingh Railway Junction Station is currently crippled by extreme mismanagement, limitless irregularities and the black clutches of an influential syndicate. This important junction, established during the British era, is now a terror for ordinary passengers. The finger of accusation is pointed at the station superintendent himself. An influential group led by him is regularly selling reserved train tickets at high prices in the black market, as a result of which ordinary passengers are not getting the desired tickets even after standing in line for hours. Victims and conscious circles have claimed that the government is losing crores of taka in revenue every month due to the misdeeds of this well-organized syndicate.
On Monday (April 20), local victims alleged various irregularities and demanded justice for those involved.
A visit to the station area has revealed a festival of corruption. Due to lack of proper maintenance, valuable railway assets and mechanical equipment worth crores of taka are being buried underground and destroyed. The old railway lines and signaling equipment lying in the station yard are burning in the open air, getting wet in the rain and becoming useless, which is being stolen in broad daylight. Not only that, local influential people have built permanent houses, shops and huge bazaars by occupying the vast government land of the railway. Even though eviction drives are occasionally carried out, the land is reoccupied within a few hours with the force of invisible poles. The recent incident of saboteurs cutting the railway line and the appearance of large cracks in the railway line in the Dairepur area under Pagla police station has created extreme panic in the public mind, which directly questions the railway’s security system.
Meanwhile, a mountain of allegations has surrounded the current station superintendent, Abdullah Al Harun. Despite being a Grade-3 Master, he has illegally occupied this important position. It is alleged that with the blessings of the high-ranking railway officer Additional Director General (Operations) Mohammad Nazmul Islam, he is embezzling lakhs of taka from the government without paying attention to the rules.
A station employee who did not want to be named gave sensational information that through office assistant Rafiqul Islam, Harun Saheb directly handed over tickets for popular trains including Haor Express, Jamuna, Agniveena to black marketers. In addition, he has developed a strong network of regular extortion from GRP police, train attendants and power cars. Unprecedented incidents like changing the designated platform of the train for business purposes and giving benefits to shopkeepers are also happening here regularly. It is alleged that this syndicate took a bribe of 2 lakh 80 thousand taka in exchange for shifting a shop allotted in the name of Parul Begum from the second platform to the first platform. From the railway booking office to the hawkers’ baskets, extortion is everywhere. If they are not stopped now, the railway service will be lost.
Laili Akhtar, a victimized passenger, expressed her anger and said, “Although many things have changed in the country after August 5, the image of the Mymensingh railway has not changed. Extortion of Tk 20 is openly taken from hawkers every day, which is very shameful. Even though expired food is sold, the railway authorities pretend not to see it.
” Another passenger Azizul Haque said, “The main task here seems to be to fill the pockets of the syndicate rather than the convenience of the passengers. The train is being deliberately kept away to increase the sales of the shopkeepers.”
Regarding this chaos, local civic leader Imtiaz Ahmed Tansen said, “Rails have now become a tool of a few corrupt people instead of being a servant of the people. It is not possible to save the railway unless this syndicate is broken from top to bottom.”
Writer and activist Abul Kalam Al Azad said, “In a populous country like Bangladesh, it is important to transform railways into the main public transport. But it did not happen. The bus syndicate did not allow it to happen. The railway sector, which is a victim of various state negligence, is a breeding ground for corruption and irregularities. It is impossible to overcome this terrible situation without the deep attention and goodwill of the government.”
Although the accused Rafiqul Islam strategically avoided the issue and put the blame on the station master, Superintendent Harun denied all the allegations brought against him. Superintendent Abdullah Al Harun said, “There is no one more senior than me now, so I have been given this responsibility. I do not have money for hawkers. A hawker named Yusuf will be asked why he takes money.
Additional Secretary (Administration Division) of the Ministry of Railways Md. Rupam Anwar said that the allegations will be investigated and prompt action will be taken.
The general passengers now have only one expectation – not empty talk of modernization, but a clean and orderly Mymensingh Railway Station free from syndicates.
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