Transparency in Indian Railways! Ministry Scanning Profiles of Officials Under Anti-Corruption Drive

Headed by Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Piyush Goyal, the Railway Ministry is reportedly taking significant steps to make railway sector of the country corruption free.

Indian Railways is aggressively working on its proposed 100 days action plan. (File Photo/ Getty)

New Delhi: Is Indian Railways paving way to become a corruption free travel network in India? Headed by Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Piyush Goyal, the Railway Ministry is reportedly taking significant steps to make railway sector of the country corruption free. According to a report by news agency PTI, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, who is on a three-day visit to the United Kingdom, said that the profiles of officials in the Railway Ministry are being studied as part of a wider anti-corruption drive to set an example of transparency. While speaking to the representatives of Indian diaspora in Britain, Goyal said the Narendra Modi led government had taken steps to address the issue of transparency across all departments and a clean-up drive was being executed across the states. While speaking at a 'Fireside Chat' event with India Inc CEO Manoj Ladwa, which was organised by the Indian High Commission in London along with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Goyal said that action has been taken on several officials who have had integrity issues in several departments. "My own railway ministry is now studying profiles of very many officers to see if some action can be initiated to give a message to the others,” he added. "In the states where we have come into government, we are trying to bring about a change. Banking is being cleaned up. More and more transparency is being brought in so people start recognising that information is now out in the market and if we don't perform, we'll be hauled up," the minister said while replying to a query on achieving a 'corruption-mukt Bharat'. Currently, Indian Railways is aggressively working on its proposed 100 days action plan which lays down the vision for the national transporter for the next three months. The document lists 10 other targets for the railways which need to be initiated within the next 100 days. One of them is the railways' version of the 'give it up' scheme which was introduced by Railway Minister for encouraging people to give up their subsidies on train tickets. This is Goyal's first visit to the UK after taking charge of the Railway and Commerce & Industry Ministry and the BJP leader also struck a note of caution about the future trade agreements in order to ensure that they in the best interest of India. “We have not always been able to negotiate good deals in the past, some of which are now causing us agony. At no point of time any more can there be any trade pact which will be at the cost of India's interests,” he added.