Multi-crore primer supply scam going on at RCF, Kapurthala under the patronage of management!

RCF, Kapurthala is procuring the item @Rs. 341.81 due to such a monopolistic environment created for a firm while the same item is being procured by MCF @Rs. 304.44 because such monopoly does not exist at MCF, Raebareli

Rail Coach Factory (#RCF) is procuring the same item @12.27% higher than Modern Coach Factory (#MCF). Average annual consumption of the item is approx. 200000 litters which calculates to about Rs.74,74,000 annual loss of public money from #government  #exchequer due to such monopoly created by so-called checks and audits at RCF, Kapurthala. A detailed report:

A. As per #RCF Item status of #Adhesion promoting primer, PL No. 33660608, the Purchase Orders (#PO) existed on 04 vendors viz:

• M/s #AnupamPaints, Kolkata (P. O. No. 14201154102195 dt. 28-Dec-2020)

• M/s #DebPaints, Kolkata (P. O. No. 14221043100965 dt. 25-May-2022)

• M/s #VibgyorPaints and Chemicals, Pondicherry (P. O. No. 14211233100631 dt. 28-Mar-2022)

• M/s #GSIndustries, Jalandhar (P. O. No. 14211233100598 dt. 23-Mar-2022)

B. The pilot sample supplied by M/s Vibgyor Paints and Chemicals, Pondicherry (P.O.No.14211233100631 dt. 28-Mar-2022) was not approved by the Design department/RCF. Rejection No: 80220206 dt. 28.09.22 for 140 litters and Rejection No: 80220320 dt. 23.12.22 for 140 litters issued to firm on advice of Design department/RCF. So supplies from M/s Vibgyor Paints and Chemicals, Pondicherry for the said item could not be expected against the monthly consumption till approval of pilot sample.

C. Supplies (18260 + 18260 = 36580 litres) made by M/s Anupam Paints, Kolkata against P. O. No. 14201154102195 dt. 28-Dec-2020 were rejected on grounds of Non-conformity for 115 litters Quantity raised by user shop vide NCR 22017 Dt. 07.05.2022 and finally the balance quantity lying in the depot was offered to M&C Lab/RCF and was found rejected by M&C Lab/RCF which was formally rejected vide Rejection No: 80220106 dt. 29.06.22 for 17915 litters & Rejection No: 80220107 dt. 29.06.22 for 18320 litters. So supplies from M/s Anupam Paints, Kolkata for the said item could not be expected against the monthly consumption till decision taken in Joint inspection (vide Joint inspection report no. RITES/NR/JI/ EN/22-23/0005 dt. 03.08.2022) was materialized.

D. Supplies made by M/s Deb Paints, Kolkata against P.O.No.14221043100965 dt.25-May-2022 received on firm’s WTC in view of urgency were taken in vigilance check in just 4 days after receipt of material and were rejected on the advice of #Vigilance ltr. no. P22024/G/VIG/RCF/2022/2318 dt. 29.08.2022 and were formally rejected vide Rejection No: 80220179 dt.13.09.22 for 9285 litters on the advice of vigilance/RCF. So supplies from M/s Deb Paints, Kolkata for the said item could not be expected against the monthly consumption till third lab report (acceptance/rejection) as decided in Joint inspection (vide Joint inspection report no. C&M/JI/2022 dated 01.11.2022) could be received. It was decided in #JointInspection that samples would be sent by M&C/ Lab, RCF for third party testing, but finally samples were not sent by M&C/Lab, RCF.

E. Only supplies (99860 litters) made by M/s G S industries, Jalandhar were used for production of coaches which was not taken in any vigilance audit or quality audit.

F. Kindly refer the table-1 for further understanding of the supplies made by the firms and respective audits done by various departments of #RCF_Kapurthala:

G. From above it can be inferred that the supplies made by 03 out of 04 firms are being checked and audited at some stage or the other and finally rejected either in pilot sample or in quality check or in Non-conformity report or in the name of vigilance check, thereby creating a monopolistic environment for a firm which is not a conducive atmosphere for a competitive environment and altogether not in national interest, which is corroborated by the fact that as evident from the Item Status of said item for RCF, Kapurthala and MCF, Raebareli. #RCF, Kapurthala is procuring the item @Rs.341.81 due to such a monopolistic environment created for a firm while the same item is being procured by #MCF @Rs.304.44 because such monopoly does not exist at MCF, Raebareli.

This means that #RCF is procuring the same item at the rates of 12.27% higher than #MCF. Average annual consumption of the item is approx 200000 litters which calculates to Rs.74,74,000 loss of public money per year from Govt. exchequer due to such monopoly created by above mentioned checks and audits at #RCF, Kapurthala. As per reliable sources, all this public money is going into the pocket of #CVO/RCF; #CDE/RCF; #CWE/Fur/RCF; erstwhile #CQM/RCF; #CQM/RCF; #CMM/E/RCF; #DyCVO/RCF; #DyCME/Design/RCF and the #CVI.

In the said case of M/s Anupam Enterprises, Kolkata the things worsened even more, wherein material has been rejected on advice of #Vigilance after Joint inspection, which again bolstered the monopoly of a firm as evident from above table. Further, it is also submitted that the similar firms are providing supplies to MCF, Raebareli without any impediments as cited above.

To summarize, it is pertinent to mention that Adhesion promoting #primer is the item of paint applied on first stage on coaches received from shell into furnishing division and as per the live orders on respective vendors:

The supplies (18260+18260=36580 litters) received by M/s Anupam Enterprises, Kolkata on 04.04.2022 against P.O.No.14201154102195 dt. 28-Dec-2020 were rejected on grounds of Non-conformity for 115 litters quantity raised by user shop and finally the balance quantity lying in the depot was offered to M&C Lab/RCF and was found rejected by M&C Lab/RCF which was formally rejected vide Rejection No: 80220106 dt. 29.06.22 for 17915 litters and Rejection No: 80220107 dt. 29.06.22 for 18320 litters. So supplies from M/s Anupam paints, Kolkata for the said item could not be expected against the monthly consumption till decision taken in Joint inspection.

Supplies (9285 litters) made by M/s Deb paints, Kolkata against Firm’s WTC were taken in vigilance audit on 02.07.2022 and were not issued to shop and rejected on advice of vigilance letter no. P22024/G/VIG/ RCF/2022/2318 dt. 29.08.2022 and were formally rejected vide Rejection No: 80220179 dt.13.09.22 for 9285 litters.

Only supplies (20,000 + 20,000 + 20,000 + 10,000 + 9860 + 6500 + 6500 + 7000 = 99860 litters) made by M/s G S industries, Jalandhar were not taken into any vigilance audit or quality audit in spite of material being received in 8 different consignments.

It was utmost urgent to finalise the joint inspection in case of supplies made by M/s Anupam paints, Kolkata and the matter had been continuously been chased in every GM meeting since fixation of joint inspection and it was time and again instructed in the GM meeting to send the samples to 3rd independent lab.

It is also pertinent to mention here that as per #GM meeting minutes issued vide letter no. MPLG 50508 dt. 03.09.2022 (Point no. 06), letter no. dt. 09.09.2022 (Point no. 05), and letter no. dt. 17.09.2022 (Point no. 05), it was instructed to send the samples as per the lab panel issued by the quality department of RCF to the depot. Therefore, it was tried in the best possible capacity to send the samples to 3rd independent lab in spite of obsolete lab and proposal already in pipeline for preparing exhaustive list of lab panel for 3rd lab testing and samples have been sent as per panel in consultation with Quality department/RCF and instructions of GM meeting as per lab panel supplied by them which was also approved by competent authorities vide proposal no. C&M/RITES/2022 dt. 13.12.2022 (approved by #CQM-I & #CMM/G).

Material supplied by M/s Anupam paints, Kolkata was rejected on advice of non-conformity report raised by shop vide NCR 22017 dt. 07.05.2022 and further lot of 18260 litters was offered to M&C Lab/RCF and finally material was rejected by M&C Lab/ RCF on grounds of- a) Cross cut adhesion 01mm cuts: observed 0B against 4B min. b) Pull up adhesion: observed 475 Psi (Avg.) against min. 850 Psi on non blasted SS surface. Finally a formal rejection vide Rejection No: FUR/80220106 dt. 29.06.22 for 17915 litters and Rejection No: 80220107 dt. 29.06.22 for 18320 litters was issued.

Further, the material was sent to 3rd lab for testing as per decision of joint inspection (JI) RITES/NR/JI/EN/22-23/0005 dt. 03.08.2022 and it was found that samples are conforming to both the tests.

Subsequently, the #vigilance department of #RCF sealed and sent the samples to another 3rd lab and it was found that samples are conforming to one test while non-conforming to the second test. Details are as under:

From the above mentioned testing results it is evident that for Cross cut adhesion test wherein results of M/s RITES, M/s Bharat test house, Sonipat & M/s Shriram Institute for Industrial Research, Delhi are in resonance, while results reported by M&C Lab/RCF report wide variation from 4B min. Also, the pull up adhesion test result of M&C Lab/RCF reports wide variation w.r.t. other test lab reports. Therefore, it is evident that the report integrity of M&C Lab/RCF is highly doubtful and needs to be investigated by an agency like CBI.

Following observations are made and need thorough investigation-

a) Reasons for delay in approval of pilot sample of M/s Vibgyor Paints and Chemicals, Pondicherry (P. O. No. 14211233100631 dt. 28-Mar-2022), M/s Anupam paints, Kolkata (P. O. No.14201154102195 dt. 28-Dec-2020) in comparison to pilot sample approval of M/s G S Industries, Jalandhar (P. O. No. 14211233100598 dt.23-Mar-2022) which was approved in just 02 months.

b) Reasons for taking the supplies (9685 litters) of M/s Deb Paints, Kolkata (P. O. No.14221043100965 dt.25-May-2022) received on 29.06.2022 in vigilance audit on 02.07.2022 (in just 4 days after receipt of material).

c) It is observed that the PO placed on M/s Anupam Enterprises was a supply and apply PO i.e. application of adhesion promoting primer had to be executed by the firm, but non-conformity has been raised by shop, devoid of any joint note or any corroborating facts on the same which is a matter of grave concern and needs investigation.

d) Reasons for creating such a monopolistic environment for a firm and no audit inspection or no NCR or no surprise vigilance check of supplies (99860 litters) of M/s G S Industries, Jalandhar (P. O. No. 14211233100598 dt.23-Mar-2022) while all other supplies were being checked at some stage or the other. This has caused RCF to pay 7474000 INR extra which is not in national interest and a huge loss to the government. exchequer which is a matter of great concern and needs thorough investigation.

e) Integrity of report of M&C Lab/RCF in case of M/s Anupam paints, Kolkata w.r.t. reports received from other independent labs (RITES, Bharat Test House, Shriram Lab).

From the above facts stated, it is very clear that there exists a nexus between the few suppliers and the RCF administration (specifically the Mechanical officers lobby) wherein under the patronage of administration various departments like #Vigilance, #Quality, #Design, and #Workshop are working as agents of a single #firm to bolster their monopolies for the supply of various items. All this public money has gone into the pockets of above all concerned officials for bolstering the monopoly of M/S G S Industries, Jalandhar and deliberately rejecting the supplies made by other vendors and suppliers by following unscrupulous practices and throwing rules to the wind.

Sources said, presently, the head of the organisation is visiting major #vendors of #RCF at Delhi NCR and other locations who have major orders and is taking huge money from those firms in the name of warranty settlement and performance issues etc. Furthermore, the concerned #CMM who has dealt with the case is not being taken along, rather only one pick and choose #CMM/TKJ is being taken along who is acting as the money collector for him.

Also it is pertinent to mention here that the coaches which have been painted with primer supplied from G S industries have very less coating thickness (DFT) as against required thickness. But due to patronage of concern officials of RCF and nexus between G S industries and mechanical lobby including vigilance department in RCF, the same has been accepted. If #CBI probes into the thickness of the primer sprayed onto the coaches, it can easily be tracked.

All the facts if investigated by an independent agency like CBI will blow cover from a multi-crore scam going on at RCF, Kapurthala which is running under the patronage of officers of RCF.

This is the story of one item only which has all the facts shared with. Further items can be tracked as per inquiry by #CBI.

To continue.. “Multi-Crore Seat & Berth Scam, and followed by Bogie Frame..”

Note: All the documentary evidence is in possession of #Railwhispers related to all the above said facts.

Compiled & Edited by: Suresh Tripathi