1.                  Areas of Importance as Specified by Central Vigilance Commission 

(i)                 Transparency and Accountability in administration. 

(ii)               Quick finalization of Discipline and Appeal Rules proceedings. 

(iii)             Publication of important case histories, Do’s and Don’ts in various areas, articles, and statistical data for education/sensitization of railway officials. 

2.                  Thrust areas identified by Ministry of Railways 

The following ten (10) areas have been identified as thrust areas for the year 2008 for intensive vigilance scrutiny in order to prevent leakage of revenue: 

(1)      Scrutiny of expenditure contracts (Works/Stores) of officer with a dodgy reputation and who are still not figuring on the Agreed/Secret List – minimum 06 contracts of each of the following categories:-

(i)    Works contract dealt by JAG/SAG level Tender Committee at Headquarters;

(ii)   Store tender costing more than Rs. 1 crore at headquarters level/Production Units; &

(iii)  Works contract dealt by JAG level Tender Committee in divisions.

(2)      Scrutiny of earning contracts dealt by officers with a dodgy reputation and who are still not figuring on the Agreed/Secret List – minimum 04 contracts of each of the following categories:-

(ii)   Earning Commercial contract dealt by Tender Committee in Headquarters;

(iii)  Earning Commercial contract dealt by Tender Committee in Divisions; &

(iv)  Other miscellaneous earning contracts such as Sale of workshop refuse/garbage etc.

(3)         (i)   Traffic Undercharges;

             (ii)  Claims;

             (iii)  Implementation of various schemes to boost traffic;

             (iv) Misuse of various concessions including free passes;

             (v)  Checks in GS coaches to detect fraud in SPTM/UTS and Printed Card Tickets; &

             (vi)  Waival of demurrage and wharfage charges.

(4)       Fraudulent payment to staff with particular emphasis on HBA, Leave Accounts and all other advances.

(5)       Checking of Pension payments through Banks ensuring submission of live certificate by pensioners every year and closure of inoperative pension accounts including transfer of Railway money blocked in such accounts.

(6)        Conduct of Periodical Medical Examination (PME) by Railway doctors.

(7)        Registration of Vendors/Suppliers including medical firms. 

(8)        Quality checks on supply items including medicines as well as execution of works

(9)        Processing of appointments on Compassionate grounds and also against Cultural quota, Sport quota, Scouts & Guide quota etc.

(10)      Reconciliation of cheques and bills.

The details of the impact of the steps taken on thrust areas for the year 2008 are enumerated below:

(i)               Traffic Undercharges 

During checks conducted by Vigilance, several cases of overloading of rakes were detected on different Railways. As a follow-up, Board decided to install electronic in-motion weighbridges at originating and other strategic locations on different Railways in the year 2001. 111 such weighbridges have already been installed/commissioned and another 18 are under supply/installation. During the year 2008 (upto February) due to Vigilance checks by Zonal Railways, an earning of Rs. 7.87 crores by way of undercharges on overloaded goods had been raised. This is in addition to an earning of Rs. 8.75 crores detected through checks in mass contact areas and parcels.

LOCATION OF WEIGHBRIDGES IN USE (AS ON 13.05.08)

ELECTRONIC IN MOTION WEIGHBRIDGES UNDER INSTALLATION/

SUPPLY (AS ON 13.05.2008)

(ii)             Fraudulent Payment to Staff 

(i)                A detailed procedure for preventing fraudulent appointments/transfers has been issued detailing comprehensive steps and incorporating safeguards which includes photo identification, registration of transfers and verification of genuineness of the employee. 

(ii)              Consequent to the feedback received regarding anomalies in the computation of Productivity Linked Bonus, comprehensive instructions have been issued along with illustrations as to the manner in which bonus is to be calculated and disbursed to the Railway employees and emphasis laid on computerization for calculation of PLB.  

(iii)              Personnel Management Information System is being developed to cover all aspects of staff matters such as recruitment, promotion, cadre management, transfers etc. which will eliminate manipulations. 

(iv)             Checks on leave account and service record are also being conducted. 

(v)              Timely and regular recoveries of loans and advances are to be done. 

As a result of preventive checks carried out in above mentioned core areas viz. traffic undercharges and fraudulent payment to staff, an earning of Rs. 16.62 and Rs. 1.03 cr. respectively have been realized during the year 2008 (upto February). This is almost equal to the annual wage bill of Vigilance Organization of Railways viz. Rs. 16.12 cr. 

In all, during the year 2008 (upto March), 7168 preventive checks have been conducted. As a result of these Preventive Checks, 34 Gazetted Officers and 2266 non-gazetted staff have been taken up under departmental action.

Railways wise (area wise) checks

3.                  Watch on the working of officers of doubtful integrity 

One of the measures to combat corruption is to keep a watch on officials whose integrity is suspect. For this purpose, in line with the instructions of Ministry of Home Affairs, following two lists of officers are prepared every year for the purpose of close surveillance and Vigilance checks:- 

(i)               Agreed List 

This is a list prepared in consultation with CBI of officers whose integrity is doubtful, although proven or substantiated case of corruption has yet to be established.  

(ii)             Secret List 

This is a list of those officers of doubtful integrity against whom the lack of integrity has been found on the basis of accepted enquiry reports or proved charges of corruption. 

Persons in Agreed/Secret List are not assigned any sensitive posts and their working is kept under constant surveillance. 

4.                  Manning of Railway Recruitment Boards by officials of proven integrity 

The Chairman and other key officials of RRB are now from railway service with clean track record. The practice of outsiders being posted as Chairman has been completely stopped. Mode of selection/carrying out selection tests has been modernized to prevent manipulation. This has helped in removing corruption in the area of recruitments conducted by Railway Recruitment Boards. Arising out of clean and transparent system of recruitment, candidates having good integrity are being inducted in the Railways which will have a long term effect in rendering corruption free service to the Organization. 

11.     Handling of Contract 

          Handling of contract has also improved with the help of training and improving general proficiency. System improvements have been done to make the process more transparent. This includes placing all tenders on the web-site for e-procurement. After contracts are awarded, summarized position in the format circulated by the CVC containing important information is also put on the web-site. 

12.     Conclusion 

          Transparency International carries out a survey on corruption in Government Departments. It has not yet covered Railways in its survey as it felt that perceptible corruption in Railways is on the decline. This is because of introduction of steps such as Computerized Reservation System etc. in mass contact areas.

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