Urging the Railways authorities to resolve hurdles in allowing the sale of newspapers at railway stations, a delegation of Dharwad District Union of Working Journalists (DDUWJ) met the Additional General Manager of South Western Railway (SWR) in Hubballi on Thursday.
The delegation, led by DDUWJ president Lochanesh Hugar, general secretary Susheelendra Kundaragi and some senior journalists, submitted a memorandum, addressed to the General Manager of SWR, to the Additional General Manager U. Subba Rao urging him to take steps to resolve the issue.
The delegation members brought to the notice of Mr. Rao that in the last couple of years, reportedly due to changed regulations, selling newspapers on railway platforms is not being allowed. Consequently, passengers have not been able to get copies of newspapers at railway stations.
They said that officials of the Commercial Section of the Railways maintained that shopkeepers owning multipurpose stalls at railway stations are not keeping copies of newspapers for sales. However, when newspaper circulation officials sought permission to conduct surveys for a few days, they were prevented from doing it citing technical reasons.
The delegation also raised the issue of concessions extended to accredited journalists for travelling on trains, which has been stopped now.
Receiving the memorandum, Mr. Subba Rao assured them that he will discuss the matter with the officials of the Commercial Section and take the requisite steps within the guidelines issued by the Railway Board.
On the issue of concession, he said he will forward the memorandum to the Railway Board as it is a policy issue.
Chief Public Relations Officer of SWR Aneesh Hegde and PRO Pranesh Koulagi were present.
