Railways diverted ₹3,400 crore meant for train safety to staff welfare, computerisation: CAG

Funds worth ₹3,400 crore for safety-related work to reduce train collisions, derailments and unmanned level crossings were diverted for computerisation, railway research, staff welfare and customer amenities, according to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).

The report released this week says the Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) fund to the tune of ₹3,397.60 crore during the period 2022-23 to 2024-25 was diverted for other works without prioritising the safety works, which indicates diversion of dedicated safety fund from its core objectives.

A total corpus of ₹1,27,000 crore for the period 2017-18 to 2024-25 was envisaged under RRSK for funding critical safety works in Indian Railways.

Following the introduction of RRSK, there was a sharp decline in contributions to and withdrawals from DRF and DF. Contributions to DRF and DF fell by 87.05% and 60.82%, respectively, while withdrawals declined by 88.96% and 66.17%, indicating a significant shift in funding of renewal, replacement and safety works from DRF/DF to RRSK.

Before the introduction of RRSK in 2017-18, all works of replacement and renewal were charged to Depreciation Reserve Fund (DRF) while works relating to improvement of operational efficiency and other upgradation and development works were charged to Development Fund (DF).

Such deployment of funds, contrary to the RRSK prioritisation framework, has reduced the availability of resources for critical safety works and diluted the intended impact of the fund, said the auditor.

The report further noted that Indian Railways contributed only a small fraction of the envisaged internal resources, preventing achievement of the targeted RRSK corpus. During the first five years of RRSK, Indian Railways contributed only ₹5,324.62 crore from Internal Resources against the envisaged ₹25,000 crore, achieving just 21.30% of the targeted contribution.

Over 20,304 safety-related works remain unfinished, indicating delays in achieving intended safety outcomes. A substantial throw-forward liability of ₹2,29,354 crore exists for ongoing RRSK-funded works, and incorrect booking, misclassification of expenditure, and wrong crediting of funds were noticed.