The Bhubaneswar unit BJP general secretary Susanta Kumar Sabat in a letter to the East Coast Railway ECoR General Manager has sought stringent disciplinary action against Angul Electric Loco Shed (ELS) Senior DEE (TRS) S Kumar for his venomous remarks on an article published in the English daily the Pioneer (May 3,2020) about violation of social distancing norms in the loco shed.   

Sabat stated that the Ministry of Home Affairs while issuing guidelines of social distancing for the Covid-19 pandemic had categorically mentioned that the norms under the Disaster Management Act 2005 should not be diluted and he States and Union territories should strictly implement it.

But on the contrary, Kumar in a clarification claimed that , “These orders are not applicable for officers and employees engaged in ELS/Angul  on the plea of  loco maintenance,   as there is no order from the Railway Board of the headquarters  to shut down the loco shed. This recklessness over the MHA order is not at all tolerable and this may be viewed seriously, while initiating strict action against him,” Sabat demanded

He further stated that the DEE(TRS) had clarified that  staffs working their shifts in the loco shed were sent on home quarantine for 14 days a per the advice of the Railway Doctor . But as per the MHA guidelines the Railway Doctor has no authority and the DEE should have referred the employee to the district health authorities for Covid-19 tests. But the employees reported back for duty without obtaining clearance for the health authorities. It is also learnt that main staffs, who came in contact with a Tablighi Jamat returnee didn’t report to the district authorities for virus tests .

Besides, the DEE in his reply to the undersigned has made unwarranted remarks against The Pioneer like the news published in the newspaper is prepared with some ‘vested interests’, the newspaper falsely published the news with ‘malafide intentions’.

Besides, the concerned officer has intentionally violated the distancing guidelines of the MHA and the

Railway Board by way of engaging 100 per cent staffs instead of 33 per cent staffs, stated Sabat.