Modi 3D Selfie Booths: Central Railway Officer who Gave Cost Info in RTI Reply Transferred

New Delhi: Providing the cost incurred (Rs 6.25 lakh minus taxes for permanent booths) on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘3D selfie points’ installed at key railway stations to an RTI application has proved a costly affair for the Central Railway officer concerned. He has been transferred.

According to a report in the Times of India, Central railway Chief Public Relations officer (PRO) Shivraj Manaspure was transferred “before the end of his tenure, that usually lasts two years.”

Manaspure had merely given the information sought by Ajoy Bose, a social activist, who had filed an RTI (Right to Information) application with all five Railway zones, seeking the amount spent on erecting the ‘selfie points’ with PM’s cut-outs.

The Central Railway PRO, an IRTS officer of the 2011 batch, had taken charge only in May this year.

“He was shifted by the CR’s Mumbai headquarters on December 29, without specifying any reason, he has been replaced by Swapnil D Nila. Manaspure has not been informed about his new posting,” said the ToI report from Nagpur, Maharashtra.

Incidentally, the Railway Board, in an advisory issued on December 28, 2023, had asked all general managers and divisional railway managers “to tread with caution while dealing with information sought under RTI”, said the report.

The social activist Bose has said that he had received ‘separate’ replies from divisions about the number of 3D booths erected “but none of them answered the query on the cost incurred on erecting the temporary and permanent booths”.

 According to Bose, only the Central Railway replied in detail. It said that temporary selfie booths had been installed in 30 stations and permanent ones in 20 rail stations across five divisions – Nagpur, Mumbai, Pune, Bhusawal and Solapur, the report said.

“The cost of each temporary booth at category A railway station was Rs 1.25 lakh and at category C stations, where permanent booths were set up, the cost was Rs 6.25 lakh (excluding taxes). The cost was approved by the Central Bureau of Communication,” as per the ToI report based on the RTI reply.

Bose told the ToI reporter that the information provided to him was by deputy general manager (PIO-HQ) Abhay Mishra, but the CPRO has been shunted out.”

Ironically, railway sources quoted in the report said Manaspure had, in his earlier stint as senior divisional commercial manager in Bhusawal, been awarded for “special efforts” made to increase railway earnings, tackle ticketless travel and thefts.

The award was presented to Manaspure by Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw as recently as December 15, 2023.

The transferred CPRO was also honoured as the “best performing railway personnel” for promoting best practices among employees.

Recall that when the news of the expense incurred on the PM’s 3D selfie booths made headlines, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had taken a jibe at the Modi government for not releasing MGNREGA funds and instead spending taxpayer money on “promoting’ the PM.

Self-obsessed promotion by Modi Govt knows NO bounds!

Absolutely brazen waste of taxpayers money by installing Modi ji’s 3D selfie points at Railway Stations. (RTI Reply)

Earlier, the blood and sacrifice of our brave soldiers was politically used by ordering the Armed Forces… pic.twitter.com/HEYo8OqmOo

— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) December 26, 2023

‘Absolutely brazen waste of taxpayers money by installing Modi ji’s 3D selfie points at Railway Stations. (RTI Reply) Earlier, the blood and sacrifice of our brave soldiers was politically used by ordering the Armed Forces to install 822 such Selfie-points with a prominent cut-out of Modi ji. Modi Govt hasn’t provided drought and flood relief to states. MGNREGA funds for opposition ruled states are also pending. But it has the audacity to generously splurge public money on these cheap election stunts!’ Kharge posted on X, while pasting a screenshot of the RTI reply details.