New Delhi: In the wake of the devastating train accident in Odisha that killed 288 people, Congress, citing a 2021 report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), alleged the government “misused” fund meant for railway safety on crockery, car rentals, furniture, laptops and foot massagers. Taking to Twitter, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh wrote, “This is how funds specifically meant for railway safety were used. This is the CAG's finding.”
Quoting the findings of the March 2021 CAG report, Jairam Ramesh alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre has been "misusing" Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) funds on crockery, car rentals, foot massagers, furniture and laptops.
Notably, according to an official document, the Indian Railways spent over Rs 1 lakh crore on safety measures between 2017-2018 and 2021-22 with a steady growth in expenditure on track renewal.
As per government sources, the railways will soon reply to the same CAG report cited by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to attack the Centre over the recent Balasore train crash.
Slamming the government, Mallikarjun Kharge, in his letter to the prime minister, had said that all empty safety claims of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw have been exposed.
He also pointed out that the CAG report titled 'Derailment in Indian Railways' showed that funding for the RRSK had been reduced by a massive 79 per cent. Kharge said that it was claimed during the budget presentation that about Rs 20,000 crore would be available annually, but this was not done, and asked why were the required funds not allocated for track renewal work.
However, data in the document showed that from 2017-18 to 2021-22, the Indian Railways spent over Rs 1 lakh crore on RRSK work. In February 2022, the government extended the validity of RRSK by another five years, starting 2022-23.
Notably, the said CAG report was tabled in Parliament on December 21 last year.