The Congress on Sunday alleged corruption in the Indian Railways after a latest Proper to Info (RTI) question revealed that the Lucknow division of the Northern Railways spent ₹69.5 lakh between 2020 and 2022 “to catch rats”.
In response to the RTI software filed by activist Chandrashekhar Gaur, the Lucknow division mentioned the bills over these two years amounted to round ₹69 lakh and 168 rats have been caught – if equated per rat, it comes out to be about ₹41,000.
Reacting to the RTI reply, Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Singh Surjewala took to X and wrote, “Railways spent ₹41,000 and 6 days in catching a rat! By spending a complete of ₹69.40 lakh, 156 rats have been caught in 3 years! That is the situation of the Lucknow area alone.”
“Everywhere in the nation, the ‘rats of corruption’ are selecting individuals’s pockets day-after-day… End result: Underneath BJP rule, persons are hit by rampant inflation day-after-day. Even the concession given to the aged in rail fares has been eaten away! Nonetheless, he says – ‘Neither will I eat nor will I allow you to eat ..’ !” he added.
Learn the response to the RTI question
₹23,16,150.84 has been spent annually throughout the interval from 2019 to 2022 for depots at Lucknow Division for Main based mostly prepare year-wise of division in direction of rodent management.
Yr-wise element of no. of rodents trapped in the earlier 3 years are:
2020-83 Nos.
2021-45 Nos.
2022-40 Nos.
Railways concern clarification
The Lucknow division of Northern Railway issued clarification stating that these actions embody a spread of pest management measures, comparable to utilizing flushing brokers to stop cockroach infestations, disinfecting prepare coaches to deter rodents, conducting fogging actions, and extra.
“The work is extra of a preventive nature relatively than actively catching rodents. Whole value as talked about in the article of ₹23.2 lakh per yr in the great management of cockroaches, rodents, mattress bugs, mosquitoes additional in all coaches maintained at Lucknow Division,” the rail division mentioned in a press release
Contemplating the typical of 25,000 coaches addressed annually, this outcomes in an approximate value of ₹94 per coach for rodent management – “very minimal value contemplating the injury, and destruction which may be brought on by the rodent,” it added.
The Lucknow division additional mentioned the price of catching one rat represented as ₹41,000 is a “misrepresentation of actuality and distortion of information aimed toward harming the fame of Indian Railways”.
No reply on injury by rats
Gaur’s RTI software had additionally requested concerning the worth of the injury brought on by the rats. The railways, nonetheless, didn’t present particular particulars, stating that no evaluation of harm had been made.