Opinion Madhu Koda and coal blocks

Railways to foot hefty bill

Saddled with a severe cash-crunch,Indian Railways just got itself another hefty bill. The recent Cabinet decision to allow the transfer of equity owned by the West Bengal government in Kolkata’s East-West Metro corridor to the Railways will mean that the national transporter will have to pay the state Rs 146.50 crore. But given its current state of finances,how it pays this amount to the state will be interesting to see. It was Mamata Banerjee who,as Railways Minister,had insisted that the Railways take control of the project which was a joint venture between the state government and the union Urban Development Ministry.

Not so transparent

India Against Corruption may have taken on the government on alleged financial irregularities but its own audit seems stuck in a time warp. The anti-corruption outfit has not made its audit reports beyond September 2011 public. With the exception of the donations received during the last Jantar Mantar fast,even the list of donors on its website is only for 2011. Or would they have us believe that they have lost their famed public connect so drastically in the last one year that nobody is donating for the cause any more?

J&K’s search for a new CVC

It seems former J&K DGP Kuldeep Khoda may not be made state Chief Vigilance Commissioner after all,despite the strong backing of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. There are indications that Governor N N Vohra sent back the file that has the recommendation of Khoda’s name for the post. Given the strong opposition to Khoda’s candidature by PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti,the state government is now learnt to be considering other names,including that of former chief secretary S S Kapoor. Khoda is likely to land up some other job,though.

CAG’s e-records

Maybe the RTI applicant was digging in the wrong places. After the Ministry of Personnel,Public Grievances and Pensions said,in response to an RTI query,that it could not trace CAG Vinod Rai’s service records,including his class X certificate,Rai decided to take the matter in his own hands. The office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India uploaded two documents on its website—Rai’s class X certificate and a copy of his letter of appointment as CAG. The certificate,which showed Rai had passed his class X in first division,seemed clearly aimed at reining in jokes doing the rounds about the mathematical ability of the country’s top accountant whose audit reports have been the cause of successive political crises.

— IE Bureau