Sports recruitment process of Southern Railway under scanner

Files pertaining to the recruitment were taken from the sports office

Sports officers of SR, who were top sportspersons in their heyday, are under scanner for the alleged irregularities

Chennai: All is not well in the sports recruitment process of Southern Railway, which has many international champions, including two-time Commonwealth Games weightlifting champion Satish Sivalingam on its rolls.

Acting on a complaint, the vigilance department last week began a probe on the selections done for filling 25 posts for 2017-18.

Files pertaining to the recruitment were taken from the sports office. A top official said the vigilance department may also look into the recruitment processes conducted over the last few years.

Southern Railway has not recruited a single sportsperson since 2014, as files have been stuck in red-tape. Since the process is time-bound and has to be completed before April 1 every year, recruitments have lapsed.

Railway Board, in a letter dated February 2, 2017, had rapped Southern Railway for not making any recruitment under the quota. On May 2 the same year, the Railway Sports Promotion Board (RPSB) pulled up SR for not recruiting any sportsperson, despite demanding quotas.

The vigilance check follows complaints that the selection trials for women’s volleyball team and men’s basketball team were rigged. Sources said there was a change in the marks of a few candidates in the former.

There are also allegations that outsiders, unrelated to the Southern Railway Sports Association (SRSA) which conducts the recruitment, were brought in to do some paperwork during the process and that applications were taken to an outsider’s house on way to the trial round.

There are two committees that oversee recruitment. A trial committee consisting of senior players, sports officers and the coach and the other comprising top officials, including the departmental heads of vigilance, commercial, personnel and other branches.

Sports officers of SR, who were top sportspersons in their heyday, are under scanner for the alleged irregularities, sources said.

Golf for railway officials cuts athletes’ funds

Chennai: A golf tournament for top railway officials in Kodaikanal last July has played spoilsport for Southern Railway’s athletes, with their daily allowance of Rs 150 during monthly camps having been stopped for almost a year. Officials in the zonal railway said the Southern Railway Sports Association (SRSA) was facing a fund crunch as it overshot the budget earmarked for the tournament.

Coaches and sportspersons told that this had led to a cut of up to Rs 40,000 for teams in various sports, affecting the morale of players. Every player is eligible for the daily allowance for a maximum of 30 days.

“Due to the cut, experienced players have stopped coming for practice and camps,” rued the coach of a team. Weightlifters and bodybuilders who have to spend a considerable amount on nutrition are now hard-pressed for funds, added a sportsperson.

SRSA secretary and chief planning and development engineer A K Sinha told that the allowance was increased three years ago, but he was not aware of the cut. “If they are not getting it, we will pull up the welfare inspectors,” he said.

Officials said the budget allocated for the golf tournament was around Rs 15 lakh but the total amount spent was more than Rs 18 lakh. “Of this, 75% was spent for accommodation for 200 people, all of whom are top officers in Indian Railways. Many of them brought their families along as it was held in Kodaikanal. One officer even brought a bungalow peon who demanded a separate room,” said an official involved in organizing the event.

The accommodation was provided in three hotels and many retired officers also took part, the official said. Another official involved in the sports department said SRSA is already hard-pressed for funds since the allocation has been decreasing. The Railway Board gives a grant of Rs 20-25 lakh every year. “Unlike Integral Coach Factory, SR does not have the infrastructure of its own like high-quality grounds. There has been no fund generation for this reason,” the official said.

Source: TOI