Five railway officials transferred for poor upkeep of stations

New Delhi, Dec 11 (UNI) Giving a fair indication that he meant business on the passenger amenities front, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad today transferred five senior officials of the Northern Railway, including a Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), for shabby conditions of stations under their jurisdiction.

Besides the DRM, the four other officials who were transferred are Divisional Engineer (Civil), Divisional Engineer (Electrical), Divisional Medical Officer and Senior Divisional Commercial Manager.

The transfer orders came in the wake of a surprise raid by the Railway Minister at Delhi station on Friday last, ministry sources said.

''The Railway Minister was extremely unhappy with the conditions at New Delhi station -- unswept floor, dirty toilets, shabby look of the canteen. The conditions were sufficient to provoke him into taking today's transfer orders,'' the sources pointed out.

In June this year, Mr Prasad had ordered surprise raids in 16 Railway Zones to streamline freight operations. ''Now he has decided to concentrate on providing better passenger amenities,'' the sources said, stating that the minister had fixed accountability on General Managers.

''It is high time the unity of command was established in the Railway bureaucracy, and the officials can't seek excuses on grounds of financial constraints. The Railway is awash with a surplus fund of Rs 13,500 crore and a General manager has been allowed to undertake projects up to Rs 250 crore,'' the sources said.

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