Commercial branch staffs of the Salem and Palakkad railway divisions were given cash awards and certificates for their meritorious services by Southern Railway Chief Commercial Manager Priyamvada Viswanathan.

She said that being frontline staff, those in the commercial branch should serve the passengers and other rail users with a smile. “Though it is easy to antagonise a passenger resulting in a complaint, it is always better to handle things in a soft way and see that the passengers are happy with the services,” she said.

Priyamvada also advised staff to treat all fare paying passengers on equal footing.

The function witnessed participation of 103 commercial branch staff from the two divisions.

DRM Hari Verma and Palakkad Divisional Commercial Manager Sathyanarayana Hari were present at the ceremony.