RAILWAYS UTILISED SAFETY FUNDS IN SAFETY-RELATED MATTERS ONLY
Railway safety funds (RRSK) have been utilized in safety-concerned expenditures only. A section of people and media though making propaganda regarding otherwise utilization but that is baseless and misleading.
It may be noted that, based on the recommendations of the Safety Committee, Railways have provided facilities and amenities like body massager, foot massager, air conditioning, etc for the loco pilots in the running room for their proper rest and stress relieving which is essential for a safe voyage of trains. Moreover in Railways, there is no provision for the diversion of funds from one head to the other.
A brief account of such utilization of funds, as follows, reveals that Railways have utilized safety funds in proper areas:
a. Mandate of expenditure on Safety, to be funded by RRSK, was outlined in MoF guidelines. Besides priority safety projects like Civil Engineering Works, Signalling, mechanical and Electrical works, there was a clear provision for expenditure on reducing chances of human errors in critical areas of operations, by improving working conditions and training safety-critical staff such as loco pilots, etc. As much as Rs 1861 Cr was provided for Human Resource development.
b. The loco pilots(drivers) of trains keep standing for hours together in trains. After they sign off from duty they go running room for a mandatory break before the next duty.
c. The running rooms are to be provided with crockery in a mess and foot massager along with other facilities for drivers in running rooms to make sure that drivers are well rested before the next duty. Crockery, foot massagers, winter jackets, etc were being provided based on the CAMTECH report of the year 2013 which was accepted in March 2014 and it was much before RRSK came into operation in the year 2017-18.
d. Laptops and computers were also provided for Track management system application besides training of safety manpower.
e. As can be seen the expenditures listed are based on set guidelines for procurements for the upgradation of running rooms and training staff etc, directly related to the safety of train running and hence are not fripperies and are part of the mandate.
