New Delhi, Jun 10: Citing a 2021 CAG report, the Congress on Friday claimed the central government "misused" funds meant for railway safety on crockery, car rentals, furniture, laptops and foot massagers.
"This is how funds specifically meant for railway safety were used. This is the CAG's finding," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter.
Quoting the findings of the March 2021 CAG report, he alleged that the Narendra Modi government has been "misusing" Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) funds on crockery, car rentals, foot massagers, furniture and laptops.
According to an official document, the national transporter spent more than Rs 1 lakh crore on safety measures between 2017-2018 and 2021-22 with a steady growth in expenditure on track renewal.
Government sources also indicated that the railways will soon reply to the same Comptroller and Auditor General of India's (CAG) report cited by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to attack the Centre over the recent triple train accident in Odisha's Balasore that claimed 275 lives and injured more than 1,000 people.
Kharge, in his letter to the prime minister, had said that all empty safety claims of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw have been exposed.
He further pointed out that the CAG report titled 'Derailment in Indian Railways' highlighted that funding for the Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh had been reduced by a massive 79 per cent. It was claimed during the budget presentation that about Rs 20,000 crore would be available annually, but this was not done, Kharge had said and asked why were the required funds not allocated for track renewal work.
However, data in the document showed that from 2017-18 to 2021-22, the railways spent more than Rs 1 lakh crore on RRSK work. In February 2022, the government extended the validity of RRSK by another five years, starting 2022-23.
Report number 22 of the said CAG report was tabled in Parliament on December 21 last year.
This is how funds specifically meant for railway safety were used. This is the CAG's finding. pic.twitter.com/7zuEhfEvb3
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) June 9, 2023
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Bengaluru, Mar 29: Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda on Friday said there are no leaders other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah who can solve all the problems at the national level.
At the same time, the JD(S) patriarch underlined the need for better coordination between his party and BJP to achieve the target of winning all the 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka.
JD(S) joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in September last year. As part of the seat-sharing deal in the State, BJP will contest in 25 constituencies and the JD(S) in three.
Noting that the role of former Chief Minister and BJP stalwart B S Yediyurappa was very important, Gowda said he must forget whatever had happened in the past "because the time is very short".
"Our opponents are so strong. Don't think that we are going to win all the 28 seats unless and until we forget what all had happened in the past and our differences," the 91-year-old said at a coordination meeting of the two parties here.
Stating that "other than Modi there is no leader in this country", Gowda said he knows each and every corner of the nation having served the country as Prime Minister for a decade.
"Only Modi and Shah are the two leaders who can solve all the problems at the national level," the nonagenarian leader said.
Gowda cautioned the BJP and JD(S) leaders against taking the Congress lightly as, he claimed, the Mallikarjun Kharge-led outfit has "huge financial resources."
"In the present Congress government (in Karnataka), money reserve is one of the major areas for them. Can you challenge? Entire Bengaluru and every department are in the hands of one leader. It is not easy to challenge the Congress resources. Not so simple," he said.
According to Gowda, no one knows how much money has been pumped in by the Congress in Mandya from where his son and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy is contesting as the BJP-JD(S) alliance candidate.
"Today this so-called Congress is only in four states and the money has to be supplied from Karnataka. The president of AICC (Kharge) is from Karnataka. Please understand. It is not so easy (to win the election)," he said.
To highlight the "resource mobilisation" by the Congress in the Lok Sabha election, Gowda said never ever in the history of Karnataka 94 MLAs are holding the position of cabinet rank (including by way of holding positions as chairpersons of various state-owned boards and corporations.)
He also lashed out at Siddaramaiah for his statement "where is JD(S) in the state?"
"I will prove that 91-year-old Deve Gowda has the strength to demonstrate where the JD(S) is. I will not be scared. I don't have any fear," he said.
Speaking on the occasion, Yediyurappa expressed confidence that the BJP-JD(S) alliance will win all the 28 seats.
Yediyurappa also hit out at the Congress government for allegedly stopping all the development works.
"There is nothing much to say about this government. People have lost their trust in it. Its coffers are empty and development works have come to a halt," he added.