Address juniors as ‘aap’ and not as ‘tu’ or ‘tum’; Railway Board chairman Ashwani Lohani
New Delhi, April 23:Address juniors as ‘aap’ and not as ‘tu’ or ‘tum’, Railway Board chairman Ashwani Lohani has asked senior railway officials, in a bid to boost the self-esteem of the national transporter’s crucial workforce.
Lohani has issued the instructions last week in a directive, similar to the ones he has been issuing at regular intervals in a bid to curb the VIP culture and protocol in the Indian Railways.
“Lot of supervisors and staff tell me that the officers address them as ‘tu’ or ‘tum’ and not ‘aap’. This is an undignified behaviour and we definitely need to have a cultured one in our dealings with the subordinates.”
“Let us build a very cultured organization and immaculate conduct. Please provide leadership on this front too,” he said in his message to all divisional railways managers, general managers and the principal heads of various departments.
This is the latest in a series of measures initiated by Lohani to cut down on the VIP culture in the Indian Railways.
Earlier he had banned the practice of presenting bouquets or gifts to senior officials and dispensed with the mandatory personal presence of railway general managers during the arrival or departure of the Railway Board chairman or members during their visits to zonal railways. He had also scaled down the various travel benefits of senior officials.
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UPSC cheating case: Puja Khedkar seeks pre-arret bail, moves SC
New Delhi, Jan 14: Former IAS probationer Puja Khedkar, accused of cheating and wrongly availing OBC and disability quota benefits in the civil services examination, has moved the Supreme Court for anticipatory bail.
A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma is scheduled to hear the plea on January 15.
Khedkar has challenged the December 23 2024 Delhi High Court order which refused to grant her anticipatory bail.
The high court said a strong prima facie case was made out against Khedkar and an investigation was required to unearth the "larger conspiracy" to manipulate the system and a pre-arrest bail would adversely impact it.
"Anticipatory bail plea is dismissed. Interim protection from arrest is vacated," the high court said.
Khedkar was granted an interim protection from arrest when the high court issued notice on her anticipatory bail plea on August 12, 2024, and it was extended from time to time.
The UPSC examination was the most prestigious test and the case was a classic instance of fraud committed on a constitutional body as well as the society, the high court said.
Khedkar is accused of misrepresenting information in her application for the UPSC civil services examination, 2022, to get reservation benefits.
She refuted all the allegations against her.
The anticipatory bail plea was opposed by the Delhi Police counsel and the complainant, the UPSC, in the high court.
While Khedkar's counsel argued she was willing to join and cooperate in the investigation and as all the material was documentary in nature, her custody was not required, Delhi Police said her custodial interrogation was necessary to unearth the involvement of others.
The UPSC opposed the plea and said Khedkar committed a fraud against it and the public, and her custodial interrogation was necessary to unearth the "magnitude" of the fraud which couldn't have been done without the help of others.
The UPSC initiated a series of actions against Khedkar, including lodging of a criminal case, for availing attempts in the civil services exam by faking her identity whereas Delhi Police lodged an FIR for various offences.
