Emergency/VIP Quota Seat Details of PNBE LTT Express

Objective
To know how many passenger were traveled under Emergency/VIP Quota.
Category
General Info

Each train has reserved seats under VIP/Emergency quota. This seat is to be used by any person or 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 East Central Railway to obtain such type of data about the PNBE LTT Express which originated from Patna Junction in Bihar and the destination is Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Mumbai.

The point wise details asked in the RTI are :-

  1. 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 PNBE LTT Express.(Kindly provide day wise categorisation).
  2. PNR Number of every ticket confirmed under VIP Quota/Emergency Quota in PNBE LTT Express in the month of April 2022. (Kindly provide proper day wise categorisation).
  3. Kindly provide the copy of gazetted officer/competent authority recommendation letter of every ticket which is confirmed under VIP Quota/Emergency Quota in PNBE LTT Express in the month of April 2022.
  4. 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 Officer is given below :-

Reference above, information asked under RTI act is related to third party information. Hence, RTI section 8(1)(j) does not permit to disclose personal information of any individual. PNR of an Individual bears personal information, Hence, this office is unable to furnish PNR details.
  • Section 8(1)(j)of the RTI act states that "information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest or which cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information".
  • Here in point number 1 applicant only asked the number of passengers travelled under VIP/Emergency Quota in PNBE LTT Express.
  • But the respected CPIO didn't use his application of mind and considered whole of the sought information exempted under Section8(1)(j)of the RTI Act.
  • Aggrieved by the decision of the CPIO, the applicant filed an instant first appeal for point number 1 only. Because the other points related to third party information and cannot be revealed under RTI Act.

The reply given by First Appellate Authority is given below :-

Quota Utilisation Report
From Date 01-04-2022.
To Date 30-04-2022.
Train 13201-PNBE LTT Express.
Quota HO-High Official (VIP Quota).
Report Type Remote Destination Wise.
Zone East Central Railway.
Remote Station PNBE (Patna Junction).
Destination Station LTT Mumbai (Lokmanya Tilak Terminus).
SL NO. Class Utilized Quota
1 2AC 53
2 3AC 94
3 Sleeper 71

Conclusion

  • As per the reply given by First Appellate Authority, total 218 seats in PNBE LTT Express have been utilized under VIP/Emergency Quota in the month of April 2022.
  • Out of the total utilized seats, 53 seats are utilized in 2AC, 94 seats in 3AC and 71 seats in Sleeper in one month.
  • But under the guise of Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, the railways refused to provide information as to who used this seats. 
  • So it is difficult to find out just from the allocation of seats whether these seats have actually been used by those for whom this quota has been created.
  • Official RTI request, RTI Reply, First Appeal Request, First Appeal Reply are given below.
RTI Request Set
RTI Request Details
Application Type
Date of Filing
RTI Response Details
Date of Reply
RTI Request Details
Application Type
Date of Filing
RTI Response Details
Date of Reply

Add new comment

Restricted HTML

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a href hreflang> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote cite> <code> <ul type> <ol start type> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <h2 id> <h3 id> <h4 id> <h5 id> <h6 id>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.