Thanks to Rlys, MPs' go on Bharat darshan free of cost

Thanks to Rlys, MPs' go on Bharat darshan free of cost
BHAVNA VIJ

NEW DELHI, JULY 4: While some lucky MPs got to visit foreign shores at government expense, about a dozen others are making do with a Bharat darshan courtesy the Indian Railways. Four senior railway officials have also accompanied them.

The MPs - part of the 45-member parliamentary committee on railways - are ostensibly on a "study tour" but are actually taking helicopter rides to pilgrim spots, that too, the relatively cooler ones.

At the request of these MPs - who are led by chairman of the committee Yerra Naidu - the Railway Ministry conveniently ignored its much-touted austerity drive and chalked out a comprehensive programme.

The MPs, cutting across party lines, said they wanted to cover as much of the country as possible, and the Railways have obliged with a three-phased schedule. It includes Jammu with a helicopter trip to Vaishno Devi thrown in, Bhubaneshwar with a visit to Puri and finally down south Vishakhapatnam and Tiruchirappally in Tamil Nadu. The visit to Puri has been coordinated with the rath yatra of Lord Jagannath.

All expenses are being borne by the Railways. At the end of it, the Railways would have spent nearly Rs 10 lakh on the MPs - attaching special luxury carriages to trains, special food, stay and transportation charges including helicopter rides. "The MPs can never know what's ailing the Railways by travelling the way they do. Because special arrangements are made for them and they are given the royal treatment. Everybody is on their toes," an official at Rail Bhawan said.

The purpose of the "study tour" is to see the functioning of the catering service, scrap-disposal system, coach maintenance and unmanned railway crossings. The railway officials accompanying the MPs are Executive Director (Bridge and Standards) B D Garg; ED (Mechanical Engineering-Coaching) Rakesh Mehrotra; ED (Stores) R C Jat and joint director (Safety) H D Gujarati.

The first phase of the itinerary was Jammu from June 20-25. The MPs had a meeting there and then took a helicopter ride to Vaishno Devi. On their way back, more than half the members came by air from Jammu. "If they were actually interested in knowing the state of affairs of railways, why did they come back by air," questioned a railway board official.

In the second phase of the tour, which is on (July 2-5), they will visit Puri and paying homage to Lord Jagannath. In the last phase from July 16 onwards, they will be going down South, to enjoy the sea at Vishakhapatnam and Tiruchirappally.

"But why blame the MPs alone," says a Railway official. "The ministers of state are hardly worried about Mamatadi's austerity claims. Digvijay Singh went around the southern countryside, with his family in tow, in his special carriage. In the last week of June, he visited Kodaikanal, Chennai and Tirupathi. Other state minister Bangaru Laxman was also travelling extensively along with his family. These are little perks of being associated with Railways," he added.