Railway job Buta Singh lobbied Laloo Yadav for has a Rs 550-cr budget
RAMAN KIRPAL Posted online: Saturday, August 20, 2005 at 0506 hours IST Updated: Saturday, August 20, 2005 at 0921 hours IST
MUMBAI, AUGUST 19: Vijay P Meshram, the Railway officer who sought Buta Singh’s help for a posting in Mumbai as the Controller of Stores, Central Railway, still has vigilance cases pending against him.
Meshram admits as much. He told Express today that there were two vigilance cases to do with ‘‘some flaws in tender procedures.’’ ‘‘I was let off after a recorded warning in one case, while another case is still pending,’’ he said.
The post that Meshram wants—Controller of Stores, Central Railway—is also one of the most sought-after posts in the second largest railway zone, usually marked for those with an impeccable record.
For, the Controller of Stores has an annual budget (non-planned items included) of Rs 550 crore. Last year, the Controller procured stocked items worth Rs 284 crore and non-stocked items of Rs 300 crore.
Railway authorities have allocated Rs 236 crore for stocked items alone this year.
The Controller of Stores is expected to keep stock of 17,000 items which range from ordinary house items to huge locomotive spare parts.
The extent of operations can be guaged from the fact that the Controller of Stores’ office at the Victoria Terminus alone has a network of 160 computer terminals and is linked to its 22 warehouses spread across Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Kolhapur and Solapur.
The stores look after maintenance of trains—both diesel and electric— in Maharashtra, parts of north-east Karnataka and south Madhya Pradesh.
MUMBAI, AUGUST 19: Vijay P Meshram, the Railway officer who sought Buta Singh’s help for a posting in Mumbai as the Controller of Stores, Central Railway, still has vigilance cases pending against him.
