VISAKHAPATNAM: Waltair division has cracked a whip on illegal occupants of railway quarters. In an astonishing case, a railway quarter (No RE/13) in Dolphin’s Nose Colony in the city was given for subletting by a technician in railways by taking Rs 6 lakh. The subletting issue came to light when the employee, who gave his quarter for subletting, died due to ailment and the railway quarter had to be vacated. The illegal occupant was evicted.
DRM Anup Satpathy told TNIE that during a special drive over 20 illegal occupants were evicted in the last two days. There are many instances where the railway land and quarters were found to be illegally occupied by constructing temporary structures. More than 270 such cases were found during surprise checks in Waltair division.
Despite agitation by the illegal occupants, the division took firm action against them and suspended employees involved in it.The DRM said in recent times it was observed that some employees holding particular posts for decades and having close nexus with the local influential persons were interfering in the railway administration. It was observed that a large number of anonymous and false complaints were sent to the DRM office on a daily basis by these vested interests and motivated persons against sincere officials.
As per the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) guidelines, anonymous letters and false complaints should not be entertained. These complaints are a reaction to the series of steps taken against encroachments on railway land, subletting of railway quarters, enforcement of rotational transfers, action against misconduct, etc. Action has been initiated against 24 employees and some of them are at large, the DRM said.
One goods clerk was enjoying the post of advertisement inspector for 21 years. When rules were followed and he was shifted, he went underground and tried to influence the divisional administration through various sources.
The DRM assured that genuine employees need not get demoralised or distracted by the fellow staff who have vested interests and misconduct. The Waltair division has received good support from the East Coast Railway Zonal headquarters and the Railway Board in checking the malpractices, the DRM added.
Quarter sublet for Rs 6 lakh
A railway quarter (No RE/13) in Dolphin’s Nose Colony in the city was given for subletting by a technician in railways by taking Rs 6 lakh. He even promised to extend the tenure of subletting for over 20 years. The subletting issue came to light when the employee died due to an ailment
Over 270 cases detected
More than 270 such cases were found during surprise checks conducted in the Waltair railway division. Despite agitation by the illegal occupants of quarters, the railway authorities took firm action and evicted them. The employees involved in the malpractice were suspended