Congress Alleges Misuse of Railway Safety Funds for Crockery, Cites CAG Report

The Congress party, referring to a 2021 report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), has accused the central government of misusing funds intended for railway safety.

This comes in the aftermath of a tragic train accident in Odisha that claimed the lives of 288 individuals.

Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh took to Twitter to share the CAG's findings, highlighting the alleged misuse of funds on crockery, car rentals, furniture, laptops, and foot massagers.

Jairam Ramesh, in his tweet, stated, "This is how funds specifically meant for railway safety were used. This is the CAG's finding." He further pointed to the March 2021 CAG report, claiming that the Narendra Modi-led government had misused the funds from the Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) on various items.

According to an official document, the Indian Railways had spent over Rs 1 lakh crore on safety measures between 2017-2018 and 2021-22, with a significant focus on track renewal.

Government sources have stated that the railways will provide a response to the CAG report mentioned by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, who used it to criticize the government following the recent Balasore train crash.

Kharge, in a letter to the Prime Minister, accused Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw of making empty safety claims that have now been exposed. He highlighted the CAG report titled 'Derailment in Indian Railways,' which revealed a 79% reduction in funding for the RRSK. Kharge questioned why the required funds were not allocated for track renewal work despite the budget presentation stating an annual availability of about Rs 20,000 crore.

Contrary to Kharge's claims, the document shows that the Indian Railways had spent over Rs 1 lakh crore on RRSK work from 2017-18 to 2021-22. In February 2022, the government extended the validity of the RRSK for another five years, starting from 2022-23.

It is important to note that the mentioned CAG report was presented in Parliament on December 21 last year.