Railways files flown to Didi in Kolkata at cost of 11 lakh a year

NEW DELHI: Railway minister Mamata Banerjee’s prolonged absence from her ministry has cost the exchequer more than Rs 11 lakh over a one-year period.

Expenses for the travel of five officials between New Delhi and Kolkata to meet Mamata for clearing files have cost the railways Rs 11,23,550.

The officials in question are officer on special duty to the railway minister, Gautam Sanyal, private secretary Santanu Basu, executive director (public grievance) J K Saha, additional personal secretary S Ashok and APS Ratan Mukherjee.

While the airfares of Saha and Mukherjee could not be furnished by the railways, the total cost incurred for air travel by the other three officials to Kolkata and back was Rs 8,73,946 from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010.

Besides, railways had to shell out Rs 2,49,604 as TA/DA to five officials for travelling to Kolkata to meet Mamata during this period, a Right To Information reply has disclosed.

Right To Information activist S C Agrawal had sought information about the expenses of officials to contact Mamata Banerjee and the cost of the transportation of files between Delhi and Kolkata.

Branded as “absentee” railway minister by the opposition, Mamata is being constantly accused of paying more attention to her home state than to railways.

However, railway minister Mamata Banerjee had said in Parliament last week that her absence from Delhi has not affected the functioning of her ministry, whose performance was the best “in the last 50 years”.