Kolkata, May 4 (ANI): Former railway minister Dinesh Trivedi on Saturday termed the incident of Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal””s nephew accepting bribes worth Rs.90 lakhs for changing the job profile of a senior Railway Board officialas a ””cancer that is deep-rooted and which needed to be uprooted””. “We need to clean up the whole system. The system is open and vulnerable for corruption. The person at the very top has to correct things. I never allowed anybody to get anywhere near corruption. If the top is clean then the habit will spread. Personally, knowing Pawan Kumar Bansal, he appears to be a good person. But, I really don””t know what goes on behind the screens. Had I been around this wouldn””t have happened. And if it happened, I would have stepped down till the enquiry was conducted,” he said. “We have to set our system at the top-most morality standards. It hurts me as a countryman. Railways doesn””t belong to any individual, it is our property. It is stinking and rotting. The Prime Minister has to step in and clean the system. On posting and transfers why should the minister decide? There is a full-fledged committee. The top needs to explain,” he added. “Railways is too minister oriented and one needs to depoliticise affairs. It is a big wing in the system, and hence, the best man who fits in well should be appointed. At least at this level basic honesty is expected,” he added. Meanwhile, Mahesh Kumar, a senior Railway Board official, and three others Vijay Singla, Sandeep Goel and Manjunath have been booked for bribery. Mahesh Kumar had given Rs 90 lakh to the three to ensure his shift from Member (Staff) to Member (Electrical) in the Railway Board. A CBI official said that the money has been recovered Kumar was arrested in Mumbai by a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team soon after flying in from Delhi. The CBI has registered a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against him. Searches were also carried out at Singla””s residence in Chandigarh. Bansal, is avoiding the media in the wake of the incident.(ANI)
