Report sought from railway divisions on parcel transactions

Instructions have been given to the divisional officers from the zonal headquarters following the unearthing of the parcel scam at Chennai Central, which resulted in disciplinary action against the five staff for ‘theft’ of 11 parcels from the office on Wall Tax Road.

“We found that the incident at Chennai Central was not an isolated one. It has been going on for a while. It came to light during a routine inspection conducted by a Chief Commercial Inspector. We have checks and balances. But, after the incident at Central railway station, we have instructed all divisions to conduct special checks at all divisions and send a report. We have to ascertain if the racket, which causes huge loss to the Railways, was confined to this division or others too,” a highly placed Southern Railway official told DT Next.

It has been reliably learnt that the zone has also gone for a review of the checks and balances in the parcel handling system. “Now that we know their modus operandi, we are analysing if the existing system of checks and balances will be sufficient or it requires an upgrade. If necessary, we will revise the system across the zone,” the officer added.

Pertinently, the chief commercial manager of the Southern Railway, who held a periodical review at the headquarters on Friday, has hinted at releasing new set of guidelines related to parcel handling shortly. Meanwhile, Railway vigilance sleuths who have been raiding the parcel units at Central station since Friday afternoon have identified discrepancies like absence of bar codes in bulk consignments booked at Wall Tax Road parcel office.