How Raj villagers struggled to keep ‘their’ station alive

A railway station in Sikar district in Rajasthan has been operated by villagers for the last five years. They literally fought for its existence and now the railways has constructed a new building and appointed nine employees here. The Rashidpura Khori station is on the Jaipur-Churu railway track near Sikar.

To maintain the viability of the station, which was in the red, villagers used to buy tickets and monthly passes so the station could reach its target of Rs40,000 a month to remain “on track”.

The station is 78 years old. Railways had stopped operations in May 2005 as it was deemed commercially unviable. Before that, five trains between Jaipur and Churu and one between Sikar and Churu used to stop here.

The villagers took up the cudgels to save “their” station and formed a committee. A collection of Rs5 lakh was made. Villagers even bought multiple tickets and ensured no one travelled ticketless.

Villagers ran and managed the station for five years between 2009-14 and in 2015, the operations were again stopped to change the line to broad gauge.

“We again huddled and got our act together to make the station functional and after 2 years, a passenger train chugged again into Rashidpura Khori station,” Pratap Singh, a government school principal and resident of Palthana said.

However, now our prayers have been answered and the railways has constructed a new station building and appointed employees. “An onion mandi has been installed near the village. It will ensure the viability of the station commercially,” Pratap signed off.

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Over 40,000 residents live in 8-10 villages near the station, all had to suffer. Then, we met authorities and even visited Delhi. Railways relented but with riders. We were told we could keep Rashidpura Khori functional if we managed to generate a kitty of Rs40,000 per month —PRATAP SINGH