Sanjiv Kumar, currently an OSD with the DoPT, is under the scanner for a piece on a website criticising the board and the railway minister.
New Delhi: The Railway Board has asked the central government to immediately repatriate a 2005-batch officer of the Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS), citing breach of official decorum, misconduct and publicly casting aspersions on the Modi government, including on Railway Minister Piyush Goyal.
In a letter addressed to the secretary of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Railway Board secretary Ranjanesh Sahai has sought the “immediate repatriation of Shri Sanjiv Kumar, IRPS”, so that the railway ministry can take “such action as deemed appropriate”.
Kumar is currently posted as the official on special duty (OSD) to the Minister of State for DoPT, Jitendra Singh.
He is under the scanner for an article on the website nationalwheels.com in which he has accused the Railway Board of indulging in corrupt practices over the decades, unduly promoting certain officers and forming cliques.
“After 13 years of Indian Railway Personnel Services, I can say with certainty that in these years, no officer has done anything for the development of human resources of Indian Railways except for a few exceptions,” he has said in the article. “Good efforts in the area have, in fact, been prevented.”
‘Railway minister influenced by favouritism’
In his article, Kumar has accused the Railway Board chairman of only being driven by his own interests and those of his clique. As a result, even the railway minister is influenced by this favouritism, due to which national interest is compromised, the article reads.
Kumar has also gone on to compare the six members on the board with the six men in the story of the blind men and an elephant, who consider what they believe to be the ultimate truth.
“That is the reason that at the time of independence, China’s railway, which was far behind us, is much ahead of us today. Chinese engineers are running a bullet train at a speed of 300 km per hour, and we are still conducting trials for a speed train of 180 km per hour,” he has said.
Railway employees across the country are deeply disturbed about their “shabby” official accommodations, and the National Pension Scheme, among other things, he has said. “Higher-ups should use their access and ability to help these employees, instead of lobbying and securing positions for their clan.”
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‘In bad taste, casts aspersions’
In his letter seeking Kumar’s repatriation, Railway Board secretary Ranjanesh Sahai has written that the article is “in bad taste, questions the wisdom of senior functionaries of the level of secretary to the government of India and also casts aspersions on the Hon’ble Minister of Railways”.
“In view of the violation of Rule 9 of the Railway Services (Conduct) Rules, 1966, it is proposed to take up the officer under the Railway Servants (Discipline & Appeal) Rules, 1968,” the letter dated 28 December 2018 states. “You would appreciate that misconduct of this nature and that too in the public domain would send a wrong message all around and encourage indiscipline in the service.”
According to Rule 9, a railway officer must not publicly criticise or embarrass the state or central government.
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