Bharat Ram Meena reaches his office at Jhajjar railway station in Haryana at 4:00 every morning. Before the first train comes in at 5:52 am, he needs to do multiple tasks: from selling tickets at the counter to controlling the signalling system and alerting gatekeepers about the arrival.

As the station superintendent, Meena's morning duty ends at 8:00 am. He then goes back to his quarters to rest, as the next train arrives only after a little over 10 hours, at 6:15 in the evening.

The two-year-old Jhajjar railway station located on all of 100 acres remains a silent zone throughout the day. Meena's subordinates, four in number, too leave for their quarters during this period.

For most of the day, only Virendra, who cleans the station, is seen on the premises. No Railway Protection Force personnel have been deployed at the station as yet...................Read more

Source web page: The Economic Times