AC Escorting by Railway Staff—A big loss making practice in Indian Railways

AC Escorting by Railway Staff—A big loss making practice and a win-win situation for staff with vested interest, fraud vendors, small time (so-called media) touts and political crooks

#IndianRailways spent crores and crores of rupees in form of overtime allowance, TA and Night duty allowance over AC escorting departmental staff. It is surprising fact that Railway has outsourced all such works except this much adapted outsourcing business.

Clear picture is yet not available, Railway administration may provide actual cost of departmental AC escorting. It is learnt that a few divisions have done outsourcing of this revenue draining age old practice but are facing extreme resistance from vested interest groups.

Officers instrumental in implementing this cost saving initiative are being ostracised, defamed and maligned. So-called affected staff for whom overtime and TA were source of income and matter of right in connivance with Fraud vendors who could not get the work are on mission mode to stall this cost saving initiative.

Those few staff consider these #allowances as their #birthright. It is not yet verified but a section of staff were telling few ac escorting staff were sending proxy in place of them. It is yet to confirmed but there are rumours few of them were involved in #smuggling of branded #liquor in Bihar.

With outsourcing a certain section of staff who were being benefiited from this age old business became rattled as a good source of income has gone. They are using the paid services of small time (so-called media) touts and political crooks to target the staff and officers.

Surprisingly, these #touts and #crooks are trying to extort money from the staff and senior officers who were instrumental in implementing this bold step. In one division of East Central Railway (#ECR) between ₹12-15 crores (approx) are being spent on overtime (#OT), travelling (#TA) and night duty allowances (#NDA) on the AC escorting business in one year. Salary and other allowances are separate.

It is huge sum when outsourced this work can be done in 2-3 crores per year only. In simple mathematics, 6-7 years outsourcing of AC escorting can be done in cost of one year of total expenses on railway staff involved in AC escorting. This is good economics, the spared railway staff can gainfully utilised in other stationery works.

The whole ecosystem of vested interest groups which include affected railway staff, fraud vendors, media touts and political crooks are running toolkit to derail this initiative. Few of the touts are direct beneficiaries of the #corrupt-ecosystem of #railways and got their children some quotation works, deployed in project supervision and consultancy agencies.

It is also learnt that Rail Land Development Authority (#RLDA) is planning to develop colony at Danapur where a big #Corruption-racket is in offing (will be published later), these touts and crooks are deviating attention from bigger issues of corruption as they are beneficiaries of the scam scheme.

#Railwhispers has always been with honest and hardworking railway staff and officers, and dutybound to serve the interest of #IndianRailways. We have faced many obstacles, implicated and intimidated but nothing could stop #Railwhispers to raise genuine issues for the betterment of the system.

#Railwhispers urges the responsible authorities not to fall prey to agenda of these vested interest groups. They should stop propagation this #toolkit to derail this noble initiative. If these kind of elements are allowed to survive on basis of any consideration like in #ECRailway it is either caste or cash sometimes both, it is extremely dangerous, can demoralise the whole system and discourage them to take such initiative.