Pushpak Express VIP/Emergency Quota Distribution Details

Objective

To check how many seats were allotted under VIP/Emergency Quota in Pushpak Express

Category

General Info

Organization

Each train has reserved seats under VIP/Emergency Quota. This seats is to be used by VIP or Railway Officials only in case of Emergency.

To get a seat under the emergency quota, a letter of recommendation issued by a gazetted officer or a concerned VIP has to be submitted before the journey.

An RTI was filed with North Eastern Railway-Lucknow Division to obtain such type of data about the Pushpak Express which originated from Lucknow NE Railway Station and the destination is C Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Mumbai.

The point wise details asked in the RTI are :-

In the month of April 2022, how many seats were allotted or number of passengers travelled under VIP Quota/Emergency Quota in Sleeper Class, 3AC, 2 AC, in Pushpak Express.(Kindly provide day wise categorisation).
PNR Number of every ticket confirmed under VIP Quota/Emergency Quota in Pushpak Express in the month of April 2022. (Kindly provide proper day wise categorisation).
Kindly provide the copy of gazetted officer/competent authority recommendation letter of every ticket which is confirmed under VIP Quota/Emergency Quota in Pushpak Express in the month of April 2022.
If copy of Gazetted Officer/Competent Authority recommendation letter is not available, please provide the name and designation of each authority of each ticket who gave their recommendation letter for confirmation of ticket/or if VIP itself travelled under VIP Quota/Emergency Quota in the month of April 2022.

The Point wise answer of the concerned Central Public Information is given below :-

For point number 1 CPIO replied that :-
Such type of information is not maintained in this office in any format.

For point number 2, 3 and 4 CPIO gives a copy paste reply :-

Such type of information is not maintained in this office in any format. Information is vast and voluminous which can not be created. Applicant is requested to kindly visit this office on any working day and inspects the daily bundle of VIP Quota and collect required information. For this he may contact EQ Cell in commercial department.

Conclusion

The answer given by respected CPIO is very vague in nature.
Very few seats are reserved under VIP Quota/Emergency Quota in each train.
And it is also not possible that every single seat is allotted every day or every day VIP traveled in emergency.
And it is also a fact that these quotas are not allotted orally, proper order is issued by the competent authority and proper record is maintained for a period of 3 months as per Indian Railways Policy.
Therefore, giving a reply that no information is kept in any form amounts to obstructing the flow of information.
Further, it is not possible for a requester to be living in a different corner of the country and go to another corner of the country to inspect the records.
Being aggrieved by this, the first appeal has been filed against this answer.
It is expected that after taking cognizance of this matter by the First Appellate Authority, proper information will be provided.
As soon as we received the order from first appellate authority, we will upload it.
Official RTI request, Answer given by CPIO and First Appeal are mentioned below.

Office

North Eastern Railway-Lucknow Division

RTI Request Set

RTI Request Details

Application Type

First Application

Date of Filing

Sat, 28/05/2022 - 12:00