Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 12

The Army has taken up with the Railways and the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts the issue of e-ticket facility to be extended till the last possible station for jawans going home on leave.The Defence Travel System, a specialised online e-ticket system for armed forces, does not allow booking of e-tickets up to small railway stations. Most troops hail from smaller rural places where long distance trains do not halt. A jawan going home on leave is issued an e-ticket to the nearest railway station till the reservation is possible. For the onward journey, the jawan has to manage at his own expense and arrangement.The jawan returning home on leave has to get down from the train while carrying his baggage and then stand in a queue to book his ticket in another train going to his home. At times, the wait can be daylong and many jawans opt to do the journey on bus.The Defence Travel System was introduced about a year ago. The old system of issue of warrants was stopped. A warrant issued from the forces allowed the jawans to switch trains without waiting for a ticket at the main station.