(Image for representation purposes only)
Abhishek Ratanpal, a 27 year old engineer from Delhi, was rushed to the emergency center of Apollo Hospitals today, after he logged in to IRCTC to book a tatkal ticket, and went into shock when the legendary railway ticket reservation portal completed the booking process in 30 seconds flat.
“It was all so sudden,” said Abhishek’s room-mate. “He had taken the morning off, purchased an aspirin and looked all set to book a tatkal ticket, when suddenly we heard a loud noise from his room. We rushed in and found him sprawled on the floor with a dazed expression his face, while the screen flashed the ‘Your ticket is confirmed’ message. We put two and two together and figured out what had happened.”
The incident has sparked fears among observers that this may just be the first of many such incidents to come. Not surprisingly, Congress leaders were quick to lambast the government.
“This is exactly why the UPA government, in all its holistic wisdom, had had absolutely nothing to do with the IRCTC portal,” said Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari. “This ill-advised move has exposed Modi government’s dhokla governance and seriously threatened the physical and mental health of thousands of individuals across the country.”
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge joined his colleague in slamming the government. “This knee-jerk move clearly shows that this inexperienced government lacks a clear policy when it comes to ticket reservation,” he said. “There are no short cuts when it comes to IRCTC. The government should have taken a more cautious approach to improving the speed of the portal.”
Advocates of free-market economics, however, have criticized the new and improved IRCTC for a different reason. “This IRCTC portal does not reward attributes required for nation building,” said a disappointed Arvind Virmani. “Anyone can book tickets on the new portal without much fuss. Whereas only the truly perseverant folks could book tickets on the older portal. By making the portal blazing fast, Modi government may have destroyed a valuable institution that created potential nation builders.”
The government, meanwhile, has responded quickly to the incident and announced the launch of an IRCTC rehabilitation center, coupled with a dedicated helpline to help flabbergasted IRCTC users. The Delhi rehab center is already teeming with dazed IRCTC users who inadvertently attempted to book a ticket on the new portal and succeeded immediately. Therapists were seen holding up snapshots of “Service Unavailable” screens to bring victims out of shock and slowly adjust to the new era.