Railway minister Mamata Banerjee’s choice for the seven-member railways committee to monitor passenger convenience is likely to raise some eyebrows. The said committee is supposed to monitor different aspects of passenger convenience in trains and stations and suggest improvements. But it does not have a single representative with prior experience in the field.
The CPI(M) has already described it a political eye-wash formed to please individuals who backed Mamata during the Lok Sabha elections.
The chairman of the committee is renowned artist Suvaprasanna, who has been backing Mamata’s movement against land acquisition for industry from the very beginning.
Similarly, contemporary singer Pallab Kirtania, who openly asked people to vote against the CPI(M) in the last Lok Sabha elections is on the said committee.
A surprise member on the committee, at Mamata’s insistence, is Rukbanur Rahman, brother of graphics engineer Rizwanur Rahman whose tragic death created a furore in West Bengal.
In fact, the Rizwanur issue was Mamata’s prime weapon against the CPI(M) to woo minority votes. Rukbanur even accompanied Trinammol leaders during campaigning.
“Undoubtedly, the Rizwanur case should be viewed with great sympathy. But does that really qualify Rukbanur to find a place in the committee?” a senior officer of Eastern Railways asked on condition of anonymity.
Other committee members include retired IPS officer Rachpal Singh, who manned Trinamool’s control room during the Lok Sabha polls. Former CPI(M) MP Radhika Ranjan Pramanik, who later joined Trinamool, too, is on the committee.
