Empowering the Commons
This time round while traveling back to Anand from Ahmedabad, it was decided not to wait in the long queue and travel ticket-less instead. No TTC wanders into the general compartment anyway! So this is where I get this idea from. I was wondering if we could possibly empower the chai wallahs and other people who sell assorted goodies in the train, to actually check tickets!?! Well, it sounds absurd at first read but then, think about it. We already have a section of salesmen who are registered under Railway Catering or something. So, if they could be authorized to check tickets in the General Compartment and collect fines from defaulters, wouldn't it be a win-win situation. It would bring down ticket-less traveling considerably and the registered salesmen could keep a part of or whole of the fines collected by them! Besides the issues with identity forgery, I don't find a loop hole in this system. And even that could be checked by taking proper measures. But what needs to be t