Two news items carried in a Bangla daily deal with the same subject — swindling money out of passengers. Organised blackmarketing of railway tickets and increase of bus fare — one and a half times or double the normal rate — become a dreaded phenomenon before the two Eid festivals each year. In Just one day all the railway tickets up to May 10 were sold out. Which means that the home-bound passengers will have to buy tickets from the ticket-blackers. In another development. bus operators in the northern districts have raised fares without any prior notice. They are collecting the extra fare without authorisation or showing it on the ticket.

With a festival approaching thousands of people have to go through a hell of an experience before they can manage tickets to travel home. The bus operators in .the north have taken the lead this time, others on different routes are surely to follow suit. It appears there is none to look into the problems of passengers. A total anarchy is let loose, by default of any supetvlsion of the authority. Reportedly, the railway tickets are available in a Kamlapur market. Of course at prices much higher than the face value.

What is the message then? Organised groups have the capacity to hold the general public hostage to their Eid-time pressing demands. They feel no qualms for the suffering of innocent people — women and children included. The authority's sustained silence over the issue further complicates matters. It is time such illegal moves were taken care of before they become a regular feature and extend to other areas of life.