17 MPs fail to return gold, silver gifts by railway PSUs

Though the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee is unlikely to take up the matter, eyebrows are being raised over members of the Standing Committee on Railways accepting gold coins and silver blocks as gifts from railway PSUs.

The issue came to light after Sudama Prasad, CPI(ML)-Liberation MP from Arrah in Bihar, returned a gold coin and silver block presented to him as gift by railway PSUs during a tour of the standing committee members to Bengaluru, Tirupati and Hyderabad last month. The gold coins were presented by RITES and the silver blocks by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL).

While returning the gifts to committee chairman CM Ramesh, Prasad wrote that at a time when passengers were facing multiple challenges, including “safety-related issues, hike in fare, lack of facilities and humiliating treatment”, accepting such gifts was “not only unethical, but bordered on corruption to silence the MPs from raising public issues”.

The Standing Committee on Railways comprises 31 MPs—21 from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha. Eighteen of the MPs undertook the tour, but only Prasad has returned the gifts. Besides the RVNL, silver gifts were presented by a few other railway corporations, which too were returned by him, Prasad told The Tribune.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, when asked about the incident, regretted giving of gifts to the Standing Committee members and said “action would be taken against the guilty”. He said an inquiry was being conducted to establish who the brain behind the gifts was.

The Railway Minister claimed the gold and silvers gifts were commemorative items issued by the railway corporations. Prasad, however, denied these were commemorative items.