New Delhi: Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw’s Wednesday announcement of ATM facilities being started was received with a wave of sarcasm and trolling on social media, where users opined that what is more important is clean toilets and enough seating, The Telegraph reported.
“In a first, ATM facility in train,” Vaishnaw wrote on social media on Wednesday and shared a video of a functioning ATM kiosk onboard the Mumbai –Manmad Panchavati Express. According to the Telegraph, the ATM was provided by a private bank and was installed by the Central Railway (CR) inside an air-conditioned chair coach of the train for a pilot run.
Officials informed that the machine has been fixed in a cubicle at the rear end of the coach and is equipped with a shutter door for its safety and accessibility during travel.
One user slammed the minister, saying, “Minister ji after solving a problem that didn’t even exist in the first place be like...” suggesting that passengers are in no need of the service of an ATM once inside the train for a journey.
A second user wrote, “ATM gets a seat on Indian Railways while the public travels in toilets.” The comment emphasises the overcrowding of Indian railways and the struggle for seats a passenger faces even if they have a reserved seat.
A third user commented, “First they did demonetisation to push for a cashless India, now they’re installing ATMs in trains.”
“We are going to have ATMs on the same trains where metal mugs are chained in the toilet so no one steals them,” a fourth user commented.
“Railway has introduced an ATM machine inside the train so that if you are caught travelling without a ticket, you can easily bribe the TT,” suggested another user.