Railway official who gave PM selfie booths' cost info shunted
Nagpur: Seven months after taking charge, Central Railway's chief public relations officer (CPRO) Shivraj Manaspure was unexpectedly transferred on December 29, allegedly without being given a reason for it or being told where his new posting is. He had last month, in response to an RTI plea, disclosed the cost of 3D selfie booths featuring PM Modi at stations.
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more... Manaspure has been replaced by Swapnil D Nila. Sources said Manaspure had been awarded by railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw two weeks prior to being shunted out for efforts made to increase earnings, tackle ticketless travel and thefts during his stint as senior divisional commercial manager.
Railways has installed PM selfie booths at many stations. Ajay Bose, a social activist from Amravati, had filed an RTI plea with five zones - CR, Western, Southern, Northern, and North Western Railway seeking information on the amount spent on erecting these booths. He received replies from railway divisions on 187 booths, of which over 100 are in Northern Railway's jurisdiction.
Barring CR, none of the divisions responded to the specific query on the cost in curred on erecting temporary and permanent booths. Information received from CR showed that temporary selfie booths were installed at 30 stations and permanent ones at 20 stations across Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Bhusawal and Solapur divisions. CR said each permanent booth cost Rs 6.25 lakh (excluding taxes) at category C stations, and every temporary booth at category A stations cost Rs 1.25 lakh. The costs were approved by the Central Bureau of Communication.
"The information from CR was supplied by deputy GM Abhay Mishra, but the CPRO has been shunted out," said Bose. Nila denied that Manaspure's transfer was linked to the RTI reply. Officials refused to comment, terming it "a top-level decision".
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