Criminal Collusion in RDSO: How Corruption and Greed Are Compromising Train Safety and Maintenance
Personal Greed of a Single RDSO Officer Jeopardizing Train Safety and Maintenance for Decades to Come
For the past year, we have consistently reported policy corruption within #RDSO that has caused irreparable and irreversible harm to the safety of train operations and maintenance. However, #corrupt officials within RDSO, driven by bribery, have relentlessly pursued their personal financial gain, even at the expense of passenger safety.
Mass #proliferation of critical safety items without any assessment of product performance – a case of policy corruption in RDSO.
Sudden and abrupt change of long established policy under influence of #bribery is playing havoc with the #Safety of #Train-operations and its #maintenance.
A #syndicate of #private-vendors, in #criminal collusion with ED/Stores operating within RDSO, is wreaking havoc on the #Safety of #train-operations and #maintenance. For the past year, we have repeatedly raised concerns, backed by ample #evidence, of a criminal #nexus between the former Special DG/VD, ED/Stores, and a syndicate of private firms. It is beyond comprehension that #vendors are being upgraded to #Regular approved status without a single unit of their #product being put into service, let alone undergoing performance evaluation. Critical safety items are being deployed en-masse without even a single product installation by these vendors.
It is pertinent to note that, unlike other #vendor-approving agencies i.e #PUs, that mandate a minimum period of performance evaluation for products supplied by new or untested #developmental sources before considering their upgrade to regular status, RDSO has abruptly eliminated this long-established prerequisite, despite dealing with items that are far more critical from a safety perspective.
Under the guise of “field trials”, a process intended for rare niche products where #specifications are not yet finalized and adjustments are made based on #trial experience, the requirement for in-service performance evaluation of items supplied by developmental vendors was abruptly removed for established, regular products—accounting for more than 95% of approved items. As a result, these developmental vendors are being upgraded without a single product being put into service, leading to the unchecked proliferation of critical safety items without any performance evaluation.
Overnight, the #Policy was changed to remove the requirement for performance evaluation, without any consultation with the #technical-heads of RDSO’s various wings—an act driven by substantial bribery. Since then, technical directorates have continuously objected to this sudden policy shift, both formally and informally, demanding the restoration of the prior established policy that mandated performance evaluation before upgradation.
It is our understanding that #MTRS also directed RDSO officials to urgently review and correct the situation. Yet, ED/Stores, in collusion with the beneficiaries, has managed to thwart all efforts to reverse these wrongful decisions. His personal greed is jeopardizing the safety of train operations for years to come.
Untried and untested critical safety items continue to be deployed on a large scale, posing an immense risk to train safety.
We urge DG/RDSO and CRB & CEO/Railway Board to immediately address this #Policy-corruption and investigate the role of ED/Stores, Rajiv Kumar, whose criminal connections during his four-year tenure at RDSO have led to this catastrophic situation. Without his immediate transfer from RDSO, there is little hope for a thorough investigation.
For detailed references, previous articles on this matter are listed below, and must be reviewed to fully grasp the gravity of the situation.
“A Devastating Blow to Safety: Greed and Criminal Collusion in RDSO”