Over Rs. 8 lakh has been deposited in the coffers of the Railway through recovery against illegal rent out of a railway ground in suburban Mumbai here between 2010 and 2014, an RTI query revealed.
According to the findings in response to an RTI query filed by activist Samir Zaveri recently, he said Rs. 8.40 lakh was generated against illegal renting out of the railway ground in Mulund, done by Railway Protection Force (RPF) for holding functions to private parties from 2010 to 2014. “However, corrupt officers did not deposit the money in Railway treasury, which was later revealed in the RTI response,” he claimed.
Zaveri said it was through the prompt action of Railway minister Suresh Prabhu which resulted in the swift recovery of the sum after the former had sent an email, attaching the RTI information, to the minister’s office.
“After receiving my email, on the same day it was forwarded to the Executive Director, Railway Board and it was directed to the officer to conduct an inquiry,” he said.
In order to get the status of request made to the railway minister regarding the matter, Zaveri later filed a separate RTI with the Central Railway (CR).
In response to his query, Chief Officer Superintendent, RPF, Mumbai replied that a balance amount of Rs. 8,40,169.16 is lying in the Central Railway Sports and Welfare fund and has been remitted with the chief cashier, CR, under the head Misc earnings.
Meanwhile, a preliminary inquiry was conducted into the matter and as approved by the competent authority, the file has now been sent to the Vigilance department for investigation regarding any alleged misuse/irregular use of CR RPF Sports and Welfare fund.
