‘Demeaning, disrespectful for poor, middle-class': Amritsar MP objects to name of Garib Rath trains in LS
Garib Rath Express trains — operated by the Indian Railways — offer affordable travel with air-conditioned coaches, connecting several cities across states.
In his question to the Ministry of Railways, Aujla wrote: 'Whether the (central) government is aware of the increasing public sentiment/appeals to change the name of the Garib Rath Express due to concerns regarding the dignity and self-respect of passengers'.
He further asked the ministry: 'Whether the government acknowledges that the term Garib Rath, once symbolic of affordable AC travel, now risks being perceived as patronising and inconsistent with the aspirations of the emerging middle class especially the hardworking population of Amritsar who frequently use this service'.
The Amritsar MP further asked: 'Whether there is any proposal to rename the train in a way that better reflects values of empowerment, inclusion and national pride'.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Aujla said that he had only tried to convey the on-ground public sentiment on the name of these Express trains.
'The name Garib Rath is disrespectful and demeaning for the poor and middle-class people who work hard to fulfil their aspirations and dreams. They are the primary beneficiaries of this service. Somehow, this terminology is not correct to convey that affordable services are being provided to poor and middle-class people. A delegation also met me to convey their resentment against this name so I decided to raise it in Lok Sabha. The word 'Garib' and 'Rath' do not match and there were several other names which might have been opted for to befittingly convey that these were economical trains to provide AC facility at affordable prices,' the MP said.
Responding to Amritsar MP's query, the Ministry of Railways said that there was no plan as of now to rename Garib Rath trains.
Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw in his reply said: 'Bharatiya Rail is focussed on providing affordable, good quality services to all sections of society. No requests have been received to rename Garib Rath trains'.
The minister further wrote: 'Indian Railways have introduced Vande Bharat services which are semi-high speed trains and are aimed to provide better travel experience and improved safety to the passengers. To provide affordable means of transportation to the low and middle income families, Indian Railways have introduced Amrit Bharat services that are fully non-AC modern trains. Already 14 services are in operation'.
Divya Goyal is a Principal Correspondent with The Indian Express, based in Punjab.
Her interest lies in exploring both news and feature stories, with an effort to reflect human interest at the heart of each piece. She writes on gender issues, education, politics, Sikh diaspora, heritage, the Partition among other subjects. She has also extensively covered issues of minority communities in Pakistan and Afghanistan. She also explores the legacy of India's partition and distinct stories from both West and East Punjab.
She is a gold medalist from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Delhi, the most revered government institute for media studies in India, from where she pursued English Journalism (Print). Her research work on 'Role of micro-blogging platform Twitter in content generation in newspapers' had won accolades at IIMC.
She had started her career in print journalism with Hindustan Times before switching to The Indian Express in 2012.
Her investigative report in 2019 on gender disparity while treating women drug addicts in Punjab won her the Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitivity in 2020. She won another Laadli for her ground report on the struggle of two girls who ride a boat to reach their school in the border village of Punjab.
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