'Railways’ contract system needs overhaul'

'Railways’ contract system needs overhaul'

The contract system of the Indian Railways needs an overhaul coupled with the need for greater transparency from the industry, top Railway Board officials said on Tuesday.

“The present contract system of IR functioning need to be reviewed to see whether they can still serve the purpose and deliver. But what is also required is full transparency from the industry,” said S. Mookerjee, Financial Commisioner, Railway Board at an event organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here.

He said the Indian Railways spends about Rs 1 lakh crore annually towards contractual payments related to work and supply contracts covering both revenue maintenance and construction projects. Mr. Mookerjee suggested that the onus of quality control could be with the contractor with “deterrent” penalty provision for “substandard work.”

In its report, the CII said vendors face challenge in dealing with the Indian Railways as the “adoption of contractual conditions has not kept pace with the changes taking place in large contracts.”

Source:The Hindu