Railway official transferred for disclosing PM Modi’s selfie booth cost
Railway official transferred for disclosing PM Modi's selfie booth cost (Representational Image )
On December 29, Dr. Shivraj Manaspure, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of Central Railway, faced an unexpected transfer from his position. Surprisingly, no specific reasons for the transfer were provided, and he was not informed about his new posting, as reported by news agencies.
This unexpected transfer came just a month after Manaspure revealed the price of PM Modi’s 3D selfie booths at railway stations last month in answer to an RTI request from social activist Ajay Bose.
Bose, in his RTI application, requested details about the expenses related to constructing PM Modi’s 3D selfie booths from five Railway zones: Central Railway, Western Railway, Northern Railway, North Western Railway, and Southern Railway.
According to the report, Bose received a response only from the Central Railway, with no replies from the other divisions, despite the costs incurred for establishing both temporary and permanent booths.
CR stated that there were 20 permanent and 30 temporary selfie booths set up at various stations in the divisions of Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Bhusawal, and Solapur.
Giving information on the cost of the booths, CR stated the cost of each permanent booth excluding taxes at Category C stations was ₹6.25 lakhs while each temporary booth at Category A stations costed ₹1.25 lakhs, with all costs approved by the Central
Dr. Shivraj Manaspure’s unexpected transfer from the position of Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) at Central Railway, as reported by the Bureau of Communication, occurred only seven months after he assumed the role in May of the previous year. Notably, on December 16, Manaspure had received the ‘Ati Vishisht Rail Seva Puraskar’ for 2023 from Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, according to a report by News Station.
