South Central Railway (SCR) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with State Bank of India (SBI) in connection with doorstep banking for direct pick up of earnings covering all 585 railway stations.
The pact was inked by senior officials of both organisations in the presence of General Manager Gajanan Mallya on Monday. The direct pick up of cash from the railway stations dispenses with the tedious and complex activity of movement of cash earnings through “cash safes” by trains.
It will enable hassle-free collection of traffic earnings and remittance into government account avoiding delay in transmission of traffic cash earnings. The MoU was signed by chief commercial manager, freight services B.S. Christopher and financial advisor and chief accounts officer J. Meghanath for SCR and deputy GM — digital and transaction banking unit, SBI-Hyd circle Surendra Nayak.
In the present digital age, pace of financial transactions is important and the on-time remittances will accrue gain for SCR, said Mr. Mallya. At present, earnings generated at smaller railway stations each day are sent through cash bag dropped in the cash chest available with the guard of the nominated trains.
In case of major stations, earnings are remitted by the concerned commercial supervisor at the nominated nearest banks with Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel accompany the official providing security as well as transportation. This method had scope for delays like holidays, availability of manpower, cash chest and so on.
The pact will ensure all railway stations have uniform cash remittance mechanism, real time information about the cash being deposited by different stations which will help in better supervision and accountability. Top SCR and SBI officials were present.
Later, Mr. Mallya presented “Man of the Month” safety awards to 14 employees for showing alertness in the duty and taking timely action to prevent unsafe conditions. Safety should be the top priority in running of trains during the festival season, he reminded divisional managers in a video-conference.
