December 10: The Western Railway has decided to act tough with illegal advertisers displaying stickers in coaches of local trains. Eleven persons have already been arrested in this connection, and security will soon be beefed up in locals and railway stations, especially during the late night and early morning hours.

Working in collaboration with railway officials, Government Railway Police (GRP) have nabbed one Vinay Sadanand Jha (28) for displaying stickers of "Sandeep Academy" on a train last month, while FIRs have been lodged at Mumbai Central police station against 10 others.

As advertising is one of the sources of revenue generation for the railways, illegal advertising has been causing a considerable loss of revenue.

Officials said the number of illegal stickers ads has risen in the last few years. From household items to high-profile jobs and herbal hair oil to painless abortions, any number of things are being illegally advertised on trains. The reason for this favoured display space: most Mumbaiites use locals as the principal mode of transport.

WR officials said the unauthorised display of stickers has resulted in the defacing of coaches. But the step recently taken by the authorities -- of stamping unauthorised ads as "illegal advertisement" -- has made coaches look even shabbier.

As a procedure, spaces for displaying stickers inside coaches are clearly demarcated, and one has to apply to the railways' commercial department to obtain permission for pasting sticker ads. Also, an advertiser is supposed to use only the WR's EMU carsheds situated at Mumbai Central and Kandivli.

Explaining the modus operandi of illegal advertisers, officials said a group of 10-12 people board a particular train at a station during the late night or early morning hours. As the passengerload is less, they paste stickers inside coaches without being questioned by railway staffers or police personnel. For display in ladies' compartments, services of urchins and female beggars are used. They are paid 50 paise to one rupee for every sticker pasted.

Railway books term illegal advertisement as an offence under section 166 of the Indian Railways Act, 1989. According to Ravindra Tandon, CPRO, WR, vigil on trains will be beefed up to curb the practice.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.