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Selfie booth row: Railways stresses stricter compliance with RTI laws

By, New Delhi
Jan 03, 2024 04:31 PM IST

Replies to all RTI application need to be approved by the general manager of the zone or divisional railway manager of the division and responses to appeals also need their clearance, the Railways said in a recent notification

Replies to all RTI applications need to be approved by the general manager of the zone or divisional railway manager of the division and responses to appeals also need their clearance, the Railways said in a recent notification, stressing on stricter compliance with the provisions of the law.

Railways stresses on stricter compliance with RTI laws after controversy over selfie booths at stations featuring PM Modi. (AFP)
Railways stresses on stricter compliance with RTI laws after controversy over selfie booths at stations featuring PM Modi. (AFP)

The notification, issued on December 28, came days after a controversy broke out over the railways’ response to a RTI application on the cost of selfie booths featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi at railway stations within the Central Railway zone.

On December 29, the Central Railways zone board also transferred its chief public relations officer (CPRO), replacing Shivraj Manaspure with Swapnil D Nila, who previously served as the divisional office manager of the Pune division. Manaspure, who served in the position for eight months against the official tenure of three years. The RTI was signed by deputy general manager/public information officer of the central railway Abhay Mishra.

Secretary of the railway board Milind K Deouskar issued a directive on December 28, urging adherence to the provisions of the RTI Act, 2005, in a notice to the general managers of zonal railways, production units, and divisional managers across all divisions.

“Replies to all RTI applications shall be approved respectively at the level of General Manager(GM) on the zonal railways and Divisional Railways Manager(DRM) in the divisions. Similarly, replies to first appeals received under the RTI Act need to be shown to the concerned GM and DRM.”

The Central Railways zone covers five divisions — Mumbai, Nagpur, Solapur, Pune, and Bhusawal — across a significant portion of Maharashtra, along with smaller areas in Southern Madhya Pradesh and Northeastern Karnataka.

An appeal is filed when the RTI applicant is unhappy with the decision to not provide a particular tranche of information, or with insufficient or incomplete responses.

A spokesperson for the ministry of railways denied a link between the notification and the controversy. “These conversations are internal to the railway board, the board is allowed to have internal instructions and the fresh instructions are for convenience…the directive is unrelated to the transfer and the RTI response made by the officer.”

But activists rejected this explanation. “The CPRO has been removed because he has given the rates of the selfie booths. He had completed only eight months in the position the tenure for which is three years. How can he be abruptly transferred like this? There must be a strong reason for that,” said Mumbai-based RTI activist Ajay Bose, who had filed the original application.

The RTI reply onDecember 21 had said that 1.63 crore was spent on installing 3D selfie points and booths featuring Modi across the central railways network. Thirty such temporary selfie points cost 1.25 Lakhs each, and 20 permanent selfie booths cost 6.25 lakhs each.

There are 19 zones in the Indian railways and selfie points have been set up in all of them, in accordance with September27notification. But the RTI response limited itself to the central railway zone headquartered at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in Mumbai.

Commenting on the directive, former central information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi said, “There is nothing in the RTI law specifying this. The public information officer is somebody who’s taking responsibility for the information. The RTIs can be refused only if it falls under the sections of eight or nine. Some agencies such as the RBI had such overseeing practices earlier. It is usually termed as a matter of administrative convenience.”

The numbers sparked a controversy with the Opposition calling it a waste of money.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, “Fares for every class of ‘Garibo Ki Sawaari’, Indian Railways have been increased. Even the fare concession given to the elderly was withdrawn. Platform ticket prices were increased and the door for privatisation was opened.”

“Was this money, which is being squeezed out of the public’s hard-earned money, for making a selfie stand? What do the people of India want? Cheap gas cylinders and easy rail travel? Or Picture with ‘shahenshah’s statue’?” he added.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson Tom Vadakkan, however, said, “I don’t think there’s been as popular a leader as our prime minister Modi. The huge rush for selfies with him especially wherever he goes has created a situation where there’s a huge pressure to have photographs with him. If Rahul Gandhi wants selfies, he can set it up who is stopping him? The opposition is worried and getting into smaller issues because Modi is going to be elected as the PM in 2024…”

The railway board’s director of information and publicity issued a directive on September 27 which urged all 19 zonal railways and general managers to urgently install selfie booths at multiple stations. These booths, designed with durable 3D fibre sculptures, acrylic boards, glass, and integrated lighting, showcase 3D sculptures crafted from materials such as fibre, clay, or Plaster of Paris (PoP). The installations highlight central government initiatives such as Skill India, Ujjwala Yojana, and Chandrayaan Mission, among others, and are being implemented months ahead of the 2024 general elections.

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