Southern Railways shuts trans-shipment office at Chennai Central station

Commercial managers have made a remark in the muster saying, “No muster at trans-shipment office henceforth”, apparently, indicating the termination of business there.

DTNext had reported extensively on Saturday about how railway staff, particularly the divisional president of SRMU PR Sarangapani who works as the chief parcel supervisor there, have been allegedly fudging attendances at the trans-shipment office. The staff at the trans-shipment office on Saturday turned up for work as usual and returned home without inking their names in the muster. 

Meanwhile, in yet another irregularity at the new parcel complex in Salt Cotaurs near Chennai Central, several railway staff were working in a non-existent office for over a year now. Seven clerks, including a former office bearer of a employees’ union, have been drawing salaries from the parcel office, which was officially closed down sometime in 2015. This newspaper has reliably learnt that the staff were assigned duties far away from the Salt Cotaurs parcel office after commercial managers terminated parcel handling there and confined business to Royapuram and Korukkupet offices. 

Salt Cotaurs, which derives its name from colonial era when the Brits renamed uppu kottadai (salt godown) in to Salt Cotaurs (salt ferried in boats through Buckingham Canal was brought and stocked here and hence the name), now only accommodates a lost property office, where consignments sent to wrong address and misplaced parcels would be stocked to be later collected by consignees or the sender. The writ of the clerks who easily draw over Rs 50,000 per head have been running large for years now. 

A behind the envelope calculation puts the loss suffered by railways due to clerks’ continuance at Salt Cotaurs since the time of closure at Rs 50 lakh. Asked as to how the department cleared their monthly salary bills, a senior commercial department source conceded that the officers, both serving ad past, were aware of the irregularity, but no action has been taken thus far. 

Even more startling was the silence of authorities at offices where the transferred clerks should have reported duty in 2014. When contacted, chief commercial manager, Southern Railway, Ajeet Saxena said the department would investigate the matter.