Faced with a shortage of staff in curbing trespassing on railway lines and the need to boost its security presence at vital stations, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) from the Western Railway (WR) division had requested additional personnel. But what they got in return has baffled them.u00a0The demand was for 300 personnel with a 10 per cent request for female staff. However, the severely understaffed force, which has a vacancy of 630, received 125 Home Guards, out of which more than 50 per cent were female. “We have no idea why they sent us so many female Home Guards when we asked for only 10 per cent? When we enquired, we were told that they don’t have enough male Home Guards,” said a RPF official, on condition of anonymity.u00a0