Top rail officials meet to avoid bribery case taint

A general body meeting has now been called on May 24 where the officers would discuss how to distance themselves from the ongoing case. Railway officers are getting demoralised with the news of the probe. All officers should not be linked with the case of Mahesh Kumar. Also,the Electrical directorate should not be viewed as a plump post because our annual allocation is only around Rs 2,400 crore from the total Railways budget of over Rs 63,000 crore, said R K Bhatnagar,Adviser Electrical in the Railway Board and president of the association.

The association also joined hands with some other unions to draft a joint statement that termed Pawan Kumar Bansal an able and experienced administrator. It pledged support to Bansals future endeavours to bring about healthy changes in Railways. Bansal did not attend Thursdays Cabinet meeting amid speculation over his imminent resignation.

The statement is seen largely as an initiative of the Congress-backed National Federation of Indian Railwaymen.

The largest union of the Railways,the All India Railwaymens Federation,on the other hand,had demanded Bansals resignation on Wednesday.