Congress falsely alleges ‘misuse’ of railway security fund over buy of things for working rooms

Ever because the tragic triple prepare accident in Odisha, the Congress social gathering has been attempting to pin the blame for the accident on the Modi authorities. Even although the work finished on growth, effectivity, security and passenger facilities of railways by the Modi govt is far more than what Congress governments did in over half a century, the social gathering is one way or the other attempting to show that not sufficient is being spent on security, typically utilizing deceptive knowledge and half-baked info. In such an try, the Congress social gathering posted a tweet on June 8, the place the grand previous social gathering cried ‘misusing funds’ as Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report from 2022 on ‘Derailment in Indian Railways’ confirmed some bills on gadgets together with foot massagers, crockery, automotive leases and extra.

In a tweet, Congress stated, “Modi govt. excels in misusing funds! According to CAG reports, the Indian Railways spent extravagantly on foot massagers, crockery, furniture, car rentals, laptops & much more from the ‘Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh’.” It is notable that the Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) is a particular fund created in 2017, aside from the common funds, with a corpus of ₹1 lakh crore.

𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗶 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝘁. 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘀!

According to CAG experiences, the Indian Railways spent extravagantly on foot massagers, crockery, furnishings, automotive leases, laptops & far more from the ‘Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh’. pic.twitter.com/SEWlVGMNcW

— Congress (@INCIndia) June 8, 2023

The tweet was picked by Telegraph and blended with the CAG report to assert that the funds have been “misused” to purchase foot massagers, crockery, electrical home equipment, furnishings, winter jackets, computer systems and escalators, develop gardens, construct bathrooms, pay salaries and bonuses and erect a flag. Calling it a “horrifying detail” that was tugged away within the CAG report, Telegraph claimed, “This may prove to be the tip of an iceberg in a tale of villainy and deceit that have undermined the noble principles that underpinned the creation of the Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK), a dedicated fund to improve railway safety.”

Congress chief Jairam Ramesh then used the report back to propagate the agenda additional. He wrote, “Read here how funds earmarked for railway safety from 2017 have ACTUALLY been spent. Shocking & Scandalous are understatements,” whereas quoting the Telegraph report. The alternative of phrases signifies Congress could finally name it a rip-off.

Read right here how funds earmarked for railway security from 2017 have ACTUALLY been spent. Shocking & Scandalous are understatements.https://t.co/tOskvYKqkT

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) June 10, 2023

The Congress declare that “Indian Railways spent extravagantly on foot massagers, crockery, furniture” utilizing the Railway security fund means that such gadgets have been bought for ministers or senior officers. However, the Congress social gathering and The Telegraph selected to essential info which present that there was no actual rip-off or misuse of funds. Moreover, the CAG report cited by Telegraph and Congress additionally simply factors out just a few common accounting anomalies, and the quantities concerned in such anomalies are minuscule in comparison with the full fund quantity.

The case of misclassification of funds

Twitter person Aviral Sharma shared an in depth thread on how Congress and the Telegraph have been making a mountain out of a mole. First of all, the CAG report took a minuscule pattern measurement of Rs 2,995.58 crore out of Rs 1 lakh crore corpus of RRSK. Out of this, CAG discovered alleged misappropriation of funds of value Rs 48.21 crores. Furthermore, CAG identified that out of those 48.21 crores, Rs 30.84 crores have been spent on passenger facilities like escalators, lifts, elevating/extension of platforms and extra. CAG additionally stated that ₹7.82 crore have been spent on income gadgets, which isn’t allowed below RRSK.

…OUT OF THIS ₹3000 Cr, AN ALLEGED EMBEZZLEMENT of ₹48 Cr WAS FOUND & THE REPORT MENTIONS THAT OUT OF THIS ₹48 Cr, ₹30.84 Cr WERE SPENT ON PASSENGER AMENITIES LIKE ESCALATORS, LIFTS and many others

₹5 Cr on Salary & Bonus & different quantities for different works as talked about within the sheet.

7/n pic.twitter.com/rAgbnE7lVs

— Aviral Sharma (@sharmaAvl) June 11, 2023

Upon studying the CAG report, OpIndia discovered that CAG remarked the funds have been misclassified resulting in lowered funds availability. A complete of Rs 4.54 crores out of the stated 48.21 crores have been spent on the event of a backyard/ready corridor/circulating space, imprest, sewage therapy plant, stationary buy, provision of ACs, short-term electrical energy connection, intercom, energy cable, CCTV, LAN, LED/Street lights, the price to the air pollution management board, foot massager and winter jacket. Furthermore, Rs 0.085 crore was spent on the hiring of autos. Rs 1.48 crore was spent on furnishings, utensils, crockery, and kitchen/electrical home equipment. Only Rs 0.35 crore was spent on the acquisition of computer systems, xerox machines, printers, laptops, AMCs, cartridges, toner and many others. If we deduct Rs 30.84 crore that was spent on passenger facilities from the full of 48.21 crore, it makes Rs 17.37 crore or 0.57 per cent of the pattern measurement.

The report additional famous, “Items of Revenue expenditure were booked under RRSK in contravention to Para 7.7 of the RRSK Deployment Scheme which states that revenue works are not proposed to be funded through RRSK. The incorrect bookings have resulted in misclassification of expenditure between Revenue Grants and RRSK, amounting to Rs 7.82 crore.”

SO, THERE WAS NO SCAM HERE, IT WAS JUST A SIMPLE CASE OF MISCLASSIFICATION OF EXPENDITURE.

I want @Jairam_Ramesh knew even a little bit of economics, he would not have even considered doing this propaganda then.

Now, coming to the acquisition of Foot Massagers & Crockery…

9/n pic.twitter.com/4oln54nRUB

— Aviral Sharma (@sharmaAvl) June 11, 2023

It added, “Thus, though prioritization principles have been clearly laid down for deployment of RRSK, bookings not falling under RRSK category have been accepted under RRSK. These incorrect bookings denote misclassification of expenditure and consequently end up with reduced fund availability for RRSK priority works.”

While the CAG report clearly talked about that it was a case of misclassification, Congress used it to assault the Modi authorities and declare misuse of funds.

Items needed for prepare crews

While gadgets like foot massagers, utensils and many others could seem uncommon, they’re really needed gadgets for the Railways. The gadgets identified by the CAG have been bought for Running Rooms, the resting services meant for prepare crews. Major junctions and railway stations have working rooms, the place loco pilots assistant loco pilots and prepare managers take relaxation between their shifts.

It is notable that like airline pilots, there are stipulated hours of complete obligation at a stretch and relaxation between shifts for loco pilots and prepare managers (previously referred to as guards) additionally. It is notable that although some long-distance trains run for 2-3 days, the identical crew doesn’t function them. The crew have a working obligation hour of 8 hours at a stretch, whereas the full obligation hour can prolong to 11 hours. The crew of such trains are modified at common intervals at main stations after their obligation hours are over, and a brand new workforce takes over from such stations, who must be prepared by the prepare arrives. Therefore, working rooms are offered at such stations in order that they’ll be a part of obligation with out inflicting delays to the working prepare.

The loco pilots and prepare managers maintain standing for hours collectively on trains. After their shift is over, they go to the Running Room for his or her obligatory breaks earlier than their subsequent obligation.

Apart from primary lodging services, working rooms have a kitchen and cooks, who put together meals for the crew. Moreover, in response to Railway tips, working rooms should have enough services in order that the crew can get correct relaxation earlier than their subsequent shift begins.

Running a prepare for as much as 8 hours is a really tiring job, and the pilots and managers must be on alert the entire working time. And it’s important that they obtain correct relaxation between working hours. That is why issues like cooking services, utensils, crockery, foot massagers and many others are important gadgets for the working rooms.

The union authorities has additionally clarified there was no misuse of funds and solely a small quantity was spent for services at working rooms. Govt sources stated that such spending was by no means “diversion” or “misuse” of the Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) fund, as services at resting locations for the crew are additionally meant for security. According to the government, making certain correct relaxation for the crew between obligation breaks is essential, as a result of investigations into a number of previous derailments and accidents have identified human errors, and fatigue of loco pilots and assistant loco pilots as among the many primary causes.

According to experiences, the railway ministry will quickly submit its response to the CAG with particulars of expenditures made for the working rooms. It is notable that a number of official shows and experiences on working rooms, together with one from 2013, point out the necessity to present a number of services akin to foot and eye massagers, gymnasium gear and many others for the crew.

Talking on the problem, Shiv Gopal Mishra of All India Railwaymen’s Federation slammed politics over the problem. “Our loco pilots, assistant loco pilots and train managers put in hard work. The facilities of food and foot massage at running centres are meant for their sound health,” he stated.

South Western Railway additionally stated that these things have been procured to be used in Running Rooms meant for the obligatory remainder of loco pilots and guards after steady duties of 9-10 hours. These are as per the advice of the security committee and never infructuous expenditures as wrongly assumed by some media shops, the railway officers stated.

Provisions included in RRSK

Officials additionally famous that whereas the RRSK fund is especially meant for main initiatives to enhance the security of railways, there have been provisions for bettering working circumstances to cut back fatigue and human error. “Every crew member must get good facilities for rest and these must be better than that of what they get at home. This has been the guiding principle to run fully-equipped running rooms. The loco pilots and assistant loco pilots need to be fully attentive about signal, track and the machine when on duty. So, we need to ensure that when they are back on duty, they are fresh,” stated an official.

In reality, whereas CAG flagged the bills on passenger facilities and working rooms as “diversion” or “misuse”, the government notification on Rashtriya Rail Sanrakshan Kosh (RRSK) clearly mentions passengers facilities, coaching/HRD as among the many heads of bills for the fund.

In the rules for using RRSK funds by the railway board, workers welfare and passenger facilities have been included within the minor Heads classification below capital outlay. The tips point out platforms, reserving places of work, ready and refreshment rooms, working rooms, items sheds, publish and telegraph places of work, latrines, and many others for which RRSK funds will probably be spent. The tips clearly state that there’s a clear provision for expenditure on decreasing possibilities of human errors in important areas of operations, by bettering working circumstances and coaching of loco pilots and different related workers.

It can also be notable that solely a small quantity is allotted and spent below these heads, whereas the vast majority of the allotments have been made for works below Level Crossings, Road Over/Under Bridges, Track Renewals, Bridge Works, Signalling and Telecom, Electrical Works, Machinery & Plant, Workshops and many others, all very important for bettering railway security.

Running room services have been recommended in experiences

While the Congress is utilizing the CAG report on some purchases for working rooms to assault the Modi authorities, an attention-grabbing reality is that Railway Board had recommended enhancements in working room services through the UPA govt. In tips issued in 2011 by the Railway Board for the advance of working rooms, numerous services have been recommended, together with telephones, lockers, cooking services and utensils, coolers and many others.

In 2014, CAMTECH below Indian Railways recommended a number of measures to enhance the services of working rooms. The suggestions included leisure services for railway crew, which included Foot massagers for leisure, gymnasium gear and gymnasium ball, Treadmill gear, Eye massager, Acupressure gear and many others. The report additionally recommended Light music system, Concentration boards, Recreation Facilities and many others within the working rooms.

Therefore, gadgets like foot massagers, crockery, utensils and many others for working rooms have been beneficial a lot earlier than the RRSK was arrange. The Railway officers have clarified that the expenditure identified as ‘misuse’ by CAG are for procurement for upgradation of Running Rooms and coaching workers and different heads, that are straight associated to the security of trains. Therefore, these are usually not fripperies however a part of the mandate.

Furthermore, the quantity spent below these heads from RRSK is minuscule. The majority of the fund is already being spent on works straight associated to railway security. If Railway is spending 0.57 per cent virtually Rs 3,000 crore to supply some aid to workers in order that they’ll carry out higher at their job, it shouldn’t be seen as “misuse” or get denoted as a “scam” at later phases, because the Congress social gathering is suffesting.