In the wake of the terror attack in Mumbai and in view of the vulnerability of railway stations and trains to such attacks, officials of the Central Railways have raised serious objections to presence of street children and runaway or abandoned youths on station premises.

Pointing out that their presence was creating security hassles, railway officials said it was time police effectively put a stop to such children from entering the Pune station area.

Officials said from time to time they have taken up the issue with the Government Railway Police (GRP), but the situation hadn’t changed one bit. They keep coming on the station premises, roam all over the place, sleep anywhere they want, quarrel among themselves and even steal passenger luggage and parcels arriving from other cities. Their number is around 50. “We want these kids out. They are a nuisance and a security threat,” said Divisional Railway Manager D K Jain. The biggest danger, said Jain, was that these youth can be bought over easily.

“Many of them are addicted to drugs. Some of them beg. So you cannot deny the possibility that these children will be used by miscreants to create trouble,” Jain said.

The Railway is also hassled by thefts of parcels. “In the night, you will find them sleeping on the parcels. They steal items from these parcels by using razors or knives. We have to compensate commuters for the loss,” said Y K Singh of Central Railway. In 2007, 13 thefts of parcels were reported while this year the number has risen to 15.

When contacted, railway superintendent of police (GRP) Vithal Jadhav said, “To my knowledge, we have already stopped these youngsters from coming to the station premises. If still they are found on the platforms, I will issue necessary directions to stop their entry.” He said the youngsters used to perform prayers twice a day at the station premises but that had been stopped. “There is no active involvement of the railway police with these youths,” Jadhav said.

Railway police inspector N Bhosale said these youth attend the nearby corporation school and had no connection with them.

Laxman Manjulkar, project-officer of Saathi, an NGO, said, “We basically work for rehabilitation of children and youths who have run away from home on flimsy reasons. We provide them proper counselling and hand them over to their parents.” Manjulkar agreed that there were some youths who are addicted to “whiteners.” “They consume whiteners as drugs. Their could be 20-30 such youth in the age group of 18 to 25. Action should be taken against them. We have no objection. We don’t allow they to stay, roam or loiter on the station area. After counselling, we immediately send them home,” he said.