Action follows wrong RTI information on purchases

The Central Railway on Tuesday suspended three officials and transferred one for giving out wrong information through RTI, which showed that the Railways had overpaid for certain purchases made.

This follows a report on Tuesday in the Mumbai edition of The Hindu, which mentioned how an RTI application filed by activist Ajay Bose as a second appeal revealed that the CR had bought 100 gm of curd for Rs. 972 and refined oil for Rs. 1,253 a litre. The reply claimed that the commodities that were procured by the Railways included 58 litres of refined oil for Rs. 72,034 in March 2016, 150 packets of Tata Salt for Rs. 2,670 or Rs. 49 a packet, instead of its then MRP of Rs. 15, and water bottles and soft drinks for Rs. 59 a bottle.

Taking note of the news report, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu ordered the Chairman Railway Board (CRB) to enquire and take action on any wrongdoings.

Addressing a press conference later in the day, Shailendra Kumar, Chief Commercial Manager, CR, clarified that the costs mentioned in the reply were incorrect and that it was actually an error by RTI staff, and that they have taken action against them.

While Douglas Menezes, assistant commercial manager, has been transferred, T. Mani, chief catering inspector, looking after warehouse and catering accounts, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), C.V. Bhise, chief catering inspector, warehouse, CST, and, Hanumesh Kulkarni, chief inspector, dealing with the said RTI, have been suspended.

“While preparing the computerised statement, an inadvertent typographical error occurred in the item of Amul curd for January 2016. Upon knowledge of this error, a corrected copy of the statement, along with the relevant documents of records, where the actual figure is reflected, was furnished to the RTI applicant,” said a statement by the Railways.

Mr. Bose, however, said the corrected copy of the details he had asked for came only after the matter was reported in the newspaper. “Why did the Railways wait for 17 months to send me a corrected copy of the details I had asked for? They have made corrections only after I spoke to The Hindu . If they had realised their mistake, they would have sent me the corrected copy earlier, and not after it became news.”

The statement by the Railways said a detailed examination had revealed that the information was furnished to the RTI applicant by compiling and preparing tabulated sheet from voluminous records pertaining to multiple catering units located at CST, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Dadar, and the headquarters.

Mr. Bose pointed out that while the Railways had, in its statement, spoken of corrected rates for refined oil, tur , moong daal , Tata salt, and Amul curd, the corrections given to him only pertained to the curd. “Why was I not given the corrected rates for other items as well? Most items mentioned in the RTI are above the MRP rates.”

Narendra Patil, chief PRO, CR, said, “The clerical staff failed to mention proper measurement units against the rates of certain catering items. It was further clarified that there is no scam and purchase is as per the market rate.”

Anil Galgali, an RTI activist, said, “The fault is not only of the individual, but the full department, and the Railways is responsible. They have suspended their staff and this proves they are wrong.”