Found guilty of corruption Arpita Das gets a promotion ; NF Railways' 'Zero Tolerance Policy' under question

By barakbulletin On October 18, 2019 - 7:52 pm

Arpita Das’ promotion as the chief reservation superintendent has raised many eyebrows. On June 3, 2019, the Anti Fraud department of NF Railways raided a counter in Silchar Railway Station. The person in charge of the counter was assistant reservation officer Arpita Das. The officials from the department found a mismatch in audit, seized many documents and few prebooked tatkal tickets.

Barak Bulletin got access to the letter that was served to Arpita Das on 13,08,2019. Signed by A K Dey, Sr. DCM/LMG, Disciplinary Authority, the letter stated, “You are hereby informed that in accordance with the orders passed by Sr. DCM/LMG a penalty of reduction of pay by one stage lower in time scale of pay for a period of six months with cumulative effect in imposed upon you.”

In fact, she was sent to Lalabazar and was assigned the task of training employees. Das was allegedly involved in a scam there too. Sources in the department said that she used the station master’s access and started working on the reservation counters. A passenger wrote to the department complaining about Arpita Das. The complaint stated that at Lalabazar station Das had asked him for a bribe in return of tatkal ticket.

NF Railway did not disclose if any investigation was done against Das for her act at Lalabazar Railway station. However, she was transferred from there and was about to be deployed in Badarpur Railway station. That did not happen. Citing the medical condition of a senior member in her family, Das pleaded to the NF Railways to not transfer her far away from her home in Silchar.

PJ Sharma now DGM NF Railways (earlier CPRO) said, “There were allegations against her which were taken seriously. A charge sheet was filed against her and she was penalised. It was decided that she won’t be given any position in the railways that needs her to interact with the public. The authority made it clear that she won’t be given a position where she gets to misuse her interactions with the public.”

Arpita Das too spoke with our correspondent. When she was asked about the Tatkal scam and fund mismanagement she said, “There was no scam. Yes, the anti-fraud committee did find shortage of cash at my counter and I was punished for the same. But that minor incident must not be termed as a scam.”

She added, “There was an emergency and hence I removed a certain amount from the cash counter and handed it to a family member. I thought I will return the cash but incidentally the very next day the anti-fraud team reached my desk and the matter was being investigated.”

She also admitted that she used the id and password of the station master at Lalabazar railway station to operate from a counter, “Let me get the facts straight. My transfer to Lalabazar was not a punishment but I was sent there to train and equip people to run a counter. I found that there was a huge rush and that is why I had to use the id and password of the station master and run the counter,” she asserted.

Now she has moved back to Silchar railway station from Ramnagar after she was promoted as chief reservation supervisor. The news of her promotion has spread on social media too. Netizens questioned the NF Railways on their decision. “She got caught redhanded and was demoted from the post of assistant reservation supervisor and now she is getting promoted as the cheif reservation supervisor at the same station. How is this even possible,” questioned a netizen on twitter tagging PMO, RMO, Railway Minister and many other office-bearers.

Das maintained that what she did was a mistake and in her career that started in early 2002 that is the only blemish. The station master of Silchar Railway Minister confirmed about her promotion.