Rs 972 for 100 grams of curd smells like a scam: Indian Railways can't pass this off as typo
Last week, news wire Reuters reported that the Indian Railways was set to miss its earnings target for 2016-17, the third year in a row, and that its debts were rising and efficiency was worsening. Well, that's not a surprise if the railway buys curd for Rs 9,720 a kg!
The Indian Railways seems to be caught in the eye of a major corruption storm over catering. According to a report in The Hindu, a recent RTI application filed by activist Ajay Bose has revealed that the Central Railway's catering department purchased certain food items to stock their warehouses at several times higher than the MRP.
It came to light that each kilogram of Amul curd was purchased at a shocking Rs 9,720.
This, according to The Hindu, was his second appeal.
“I filed the application in July 2016, but didn’t get a reply from CR. It appeared they wanted to cover something up. I filed an appeal and the appellate authority show-caused the railways asking them to provide details sought by me within 15 days. Despite this, there was no reply even after several months,” Bose was quoted as saying by The Hindu.
Bose had filed his query after learning that the catering department was running at a huge loss.
In its reply to his second appeal, the Railways made some shocking revelations: "They purchased 100 grams of curd, which costs Rs 25, for Rs 972. In fact, the railways had bought most items at costs much than their MRP,” he said.
The details in the RTI reply involves items purchased by the railways catering department, which are stocked at the warehouse in Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CSTM) and distributed to IRCTC's Jan Ahar canteens, railway base kitchens and trains like Deccan Queen, Kurla-Hazrat Nizamuddin Express.
The Central Railway is one of the 16 zones of Indian Railways. Headquartered in Mumbai's CSTM, it covers the states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and parts of Karnataka.
Other commodities procured by the railways included 58 litres of refined oil for Rs 72,034 in March 2016, or a litre of refined oil for Rs 1,241. It also said it bought 150 packets of Tata Salt for Rs 2,670, or Rs 49 per packet instead of its then MRP of Rs 15, water bottles and soft drinks for Rs 59 per bottle.
Surprisingly, few items, were procured at correct rates. It included samosas, onions and potatoes.
The RTI reply also revealed a distribution mismatch. While 250 kg of flour was purchased for Rs 7,680, the railways claimed to have distributed 450 kg of flour (90 kg to base kitchen and 360 kg to the IRCTC-run Jan Ahar canteen). Similarly, 35 kg of maida was shown as distributed, though only 20 kg was purchased. It also bought 255 kg of Basmati rice, but said it distributed 745 kg to the base kitchen and the Kurla-Hazrat Nizamuddin Express.
“According to the Railway reports, the Jan Ahar Canteens and stalls at LTT and other stations are running at a loss, but the RTI reply gives us the actual picture,” Bose said.
While Union minister Suresh Prabhu promptly tweeted saying an inquiry has been initiated, divisional railway manager, Central Railways, Ravindra Goyal, tried to brush it off as a mere typing error. “This must be a typing error, but I will look into the matter.”
Immediate enquiry ordered on reports of overpricing in CR in certain purchases.Asked CRB to take serious action on any wrongdoings
— Suresh Prabhu (@sureshpprabhu) May 2, 2017
Subsequent tweets from the Ministry of Railways said:
6/Rly Board has taken a very serious view of RTI wrong info,3 rly official hv been suspended & 1 officer is transferred w/ immediate effect https://t.co/cyZX9OSZM3
— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) May 2, 2017
7/This info is incorrect,Rs 972 is cost of 1 carton of curd having 108 cups of 100 gm each & Rs 1241 for refined oil of 15 litre of tin. https://t.co/Z8Hs4ouTtk
— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) May 2, 2017
In February this year, another catering scam had come to light following a Facebook post by a user Protapta Das.
According to his post, the pantry staff in the Yesvantpur-Howrah Express (South Eastern Railway Zone) were selling food to passengers at more than double the printed MRP.
However, that post was brushed off by the ministry as "misinformation" in an official tweet.
According to The Quint, "similar to the fate of many other viral stories on the internet, this incident grabbed headlines for only a few days before receding into the background".
This despite Prabhu ordering a review of all catering contracts in October 2015, and asking for blacklisting of companies involved in unfair and corrupt practices.
In March 2015, replying to questions in Rajya Sabha, Prabhu had acknowledged the existence of corruption at various levels — including award of contracts and employment and instances of hoodwinking of people — in his ministry and said the government was determined to weed it out through stringent action and putting in place a transparent system.
He had also highlighted initiatives taken to prevent corruption, including putting details of all tenders on website and stores procurement through e-tendering, among others.
Coming back to the latest scam, according to Bose, the catering department does not float any tenders. "Hence all the raw materials and other products are bought from a particular supplier only. If due process was followed by floating tenders then the contracts would have been issued to the lowest bidder. Nevertheless, the railway authorities have turned a blind eye so far towards the losses incurred at LTT and CST terminus and also at the Janahar gruh and base kitchen."
Bose also says that the scam could run into crores of rupees and despite monthly audits conducted by the department, the misappropriations never came to light.
In such a scenario, can the role of railway officials be overlooked?
Editor’s note: The official Twitter account of Railway ministry has issued a clarification. According to them, the correct information is that a carton of 108 cups of curd costs Rs 970, thereby bringing the price down to Rs 8.9/100gm. Similarly, Rs 1,241 is the amount they paid for a 15 litre tin of refined oil, which brings down the price to Rs 82.7/litre.
Correct info is Rs 970 for a carton hving 108 curd cups i.e. Rs 8.9/100gm & Rs1241 for 15 litre tin of refined oil i.e. Rs 82.7/litre https://t.co/6bmzpNqKH4
— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) May 2, 2017