Railway ticket money embezzled

An investigation conducted by top-level railway officials has uncovered this sensational and unprecedented story. The inquisition involved scrutiny of one lakh copies of vouchers accompanied by questioning of 14 railway officials and staff members. Initially, at a lower level, however, there was something of a hush-hush with at best a vague pointer to an act of misfeasance; whereupon the higher railway authorities put their feet down ordering a top-level inquiry. As a result, we come to know of the skeletons in the cupboard. The top-bass of the railway deserves thanks for their persistence and boldness, the latter because they hadn't buckled under any trade union pressure, imagined or real.

We notice though that the corrupt elements were going about their business for a long time unseen and undetected by any eye. Were they stopped in their tracks by a timely intervention, the railway exchequer wouldn't have been poorer by Tk five crore. Lack of routine inspection, supervision and monitoring has been the root-cause behind proliferation of corruption in most public sector undertakings. In sectors having daily over-the-counter receipts, it's a culpable offence not to keep a tab on the ledgers. Besides, the railways rolling stocks and real estate assets are worth crores of Taka. On the whole, therefore, a very high premium is placed on anti-corruption measures.

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There will be further investigation into the pension scandal, and hopefully, deterrent punishment would be meted out to those found guilty.