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Journalism of Courage
He chose a train over a plane to keep his first trip to Delhi simple. But the Chhatisgarh Governor’s wish has already cost the state government a little over Rs 96,000.
Lt General (rtd) Krishan Mohan Seth left Raipur on Saturday with wife Veena and two sons in a saloon attached to Chhattisgarh Express, which takes nearly 30 hours to reach the Capital after stopping at Gondia, Nagpur, Itarsi, Bhopal, Jhansi and Gwalior.
The AC saloon had been specially brought from Delhi for the Governor on instructions from the Raj Bhawan. It has a separate bed room, conference room, study, kitchen and bath.
‘‘The railways has only limited saloons. We got this special one arranged from Delhi for the VVIP travel. The railways charged some extra money to bring the saloon to Bilaspur,’’ says Samar Jha, the divisional railway manager at Raipur.
According to Jha, the demand for a special coach was new, as the previous Governor D.N. Sahay had taken the Rajdhani to Delhi. This time, the Raj Bhawan deposited a sum in advance to make the saloon available to Seth and his family.
The Governor’s train journey will not end in Delhi. ‘‘His Excellency will again take a train to Pune and Mumbai after a brief stay in Delhi. It is only on his return that he will take a regular Mumbai—Raipur flight on July 12,’’ a Raj Bhawan official said.
‘‘We charged approximately Rs 96,000 for the journey,’’ a rail official said. Raj Bhawan officials brush aside criticisms on the Governor’s ‘‘royal ways’’. They claim that an air passage would have cost about Rs 1 lakh, nearly the same as the train journey.
