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| Chandan Kumar addresses a meeting in Chhapra. Telegraph picture |
Chhapra, Sept. 5: Chandan Kumar, a former inspector of the Railway Protection Force (RPF), has taken a leaf out of the book of social activists Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal, and has decided to fight corruption.
The 30-year-old man, who resigned from service last month, today staged a dharna at Chhapra Junction to protest the alleged corruption that flourishes at the railway station. Members of Bharatiya Rail Yatri Sangharsh Morcha, a non-government organisation that Chandan formed this month, and CPI, joined him.
The protesters marched to the collectorate and Rajendra Chowk to make people aware of the corruption prevalent in the railways, and stand up against it.
Chandan told The Telegraph: “I had joined the RPF with great enthusiasm, and was posted at Chhapra Junction. I was shocked to find that the railway station was plagued by corruption. Crores of rupees were misappropriated here. I found out through the Right to Information that the authorities waived Rs 1 crore on every Rs 4 crore delay fine. When I apprised the senior officers of the scam, a false chargesheet was slapped on me and I was transferred to Gorakhpur. My wife was pregnant but I was not granted leave. My family members were threatened with dire consequences. I resigned on August 11 this year, and on September 4, I formed Bharatiya Rail Yatri Sangharsh Morcha to fight corruption.”
Senior RPF officers, however, claimed that the accusations made by Chandan were baseless.
“The charges he made are unfounded,” said S.N. Thakur, an RPF inspector. “He staged a protest with unlicensed vendors today. So, an FIR has been lodged against him.”
Chandan, however, has come up with a 24-point charter of demands. He wants a CBI enquiry in the fine-relief “scam” each year, confiscation of properties of corrupt railway officials and their dismissal, improved quality of food supplied by the railway canteen and pantry car, facility for drinking water, toilets, hospital and waiting room at all stations.
