Senior BJP leader Satya Pal Jain on Saturday accused former Railways Minister and local MP Pawan Kumar Bansal of making amendments in conditions to favour Railway contractors,while adding financial burden on the public through increase in fares and other charges. Jain also said that the change in conditions of allotment of the contracts caused losses to the Railways to the tune of Rs 100 crore while benefiting the contractors. Jain further alleged that the CBI was going slow on the investigation against Bansal in the rail bribery scam where his nephew was arrested while accepting a bribe from a member of the Railway Board. Jain demanded that the CBI should investigate whether the benefits given to the contractors in Railways during Bansals tenure was the beginning of the nexus that eventually led to a bribe being offered for postings. As per the modification introduced in December,the license fee to be paid by contractors to Railways was reduced. The modified paragraph however states,Minimum license fee will be fixed as 12 per cent of the estimated annual sales turnover for static units,10 per cent of the annual sales turnover for mobile units of Ordinary Mail/Express trains and premium super fast trains and for Rajdhani/ Shatabdi/ Duronto trains,10 per cent of the annual sales turnover based on actual occupancy figures. Earlier this license fee was 12 per cent for the ordinary mail and 15 per cent for Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains. In another decision taken on March 12,2013 it was decided that the land license fee to be charged for setting up of a kitchen at the Railways premises or land be charged at a token fee of Rs 1 per sq feet subject to a minimum of Rs 100 per annum. Jain alleged that due to the change in the license fees,the Railways lost Rs 100 crores. On one hand,Pawan Bansal introduced a hike in fares during his tenure as the Railways Minister on the pretext that the Railways were suffering losses. There was a hike in the food items served by the Railways as well. Through the hike in passenger fares,Railways generated revenue of Rs 6,600 crores. While the burden of such an amount was put on the public,the contractors were benefited. Even land was offered at cheap rates to the contractors. If the CBI investigates more players,the entire nexus will be revealed, alleged Jain. Jain said that a case has been filed by one S R Hussain in 2011 alleging that his appointment as Director,Engineering,NPCC was rejected and the incumbent director given extension without following procedure. The case has been filed against Pawan Bansal and Union Minister Salman Khurshid. BJP to constitute committee BJP leader Satya Pal Jain alleged that three weeks have passed since the arrest of Pawan Bansals nephew,but the CBI had still not questioned the local MP. The BJP feels that the Centre is pressurising the CBI due to political reasons. It is an open and shut case of corruption. While in the match fixing case anyone who is a suspect is being questioned,when it comes to the former minister,the CBI has slowed down, says Jain. He said that the BJP is likely to constitute a committee that would keep a tab on the issue. If the CBI takes no action,the party would go to court seeking action. The committee would decide a future course of action. The CBI should make the recorded conversations in the case public,he felt. Ruckus in MC General House Terming the ruckus that was created in the meeting of the Municipal Corporation on Friday as unfortunate,Jain said that it is for the first time that a ruling party was seen creating ruckus. He says,While the Opposition has a right to protest,I have seen for the first time protests by a ruling party in the House. Bansal is an ex-officio member of the House so a discussion on the bribery case could have been held. The level of discussion in the MC could improve.
