IRCTC desk planned at Parliament house
NEWDELHI: Indian Railway might stop serving Parliament canteens in the coming days, but the transporter’s catering arm, IRCTC, may soon open a ticket counter in Parliament complex—to help MPs buy air tickets of private domestic airlines.
It is set to be the first outlet that will sell, among other things, tickets of different private carriers in the Parliament House that till now only had tea and coffee boards’ outlets, India Railwayrun canteen and an Air India counter. The new counter will run parallel to the Air India counter, said a senior official.
Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla is personally in talks with IRCTC to set up its booking counter, officials said. They also pointed out that in a special booklet highlighting achievements of Birla’s first year in office, it has been mentioned: “Orders have been issued for setting up a booking counter of IRCTC in Parliament House to provide the facility of booking tickets for private air journeys by Hon’ble Members.”
The idea to have a counter for all domestic airlines was mooted last year during a meeting of the Lok Sabha’s business advisory committee chaired by Birla. After several members pointed out the difficulties in getting tickets, Birla asked the secretariat to look into the issue.
An MP is entitled to 34 business class tickets annually in any airline. The entry of IRCTC may also dent Air India’s roaring business. According to officials and a couple of MPs, the national carrier’s counter provides mainly full fare tickets to MPs—whereas buying tickets from outside or even agents costs lesser.
“I remember that former speaker Sumitra Mahajan once told us that she way flying from Delhi to Indore and she found that the passenger sitting beside her had bought the ticket at a nearly 50% cheaper price,” said Trinamool’s floor leader Sudip Bandopadhyay.
The IRCTC outlet, according to officials, can also end the inflated bills of travel agents who are often engaged by MPs. “According to rules, we have to pay the entire bill amount. But some travel agents also add their commission to this,” said an official.
“This is a good move by the Speaker. After all, it will be convenient for all MPs to get their tickets booked during the session,” Bandopadhyay added.
Lok Sabha officials said the IRCTC counter is likely to open this monsoon session. It might also coincide with the departure of the Northern Railway from the Parliament canteen as a part of the project to overhaul the catering system of the Parliament.
In the past year, the Lok Sabha secretariat revamped facilities for MPs in other sectors as well. Thirty-six duplex flats for lawmakers came up in the North Avenue and another 228 new flats will be constructed soon. A total of 76 residential flats are being built after demolishing seven bungalows on B D Marg and one bungalow on the Talkatora Road.