Date last updated: 15.06.21
Right to Information Act
STORES DEPARTMENT
RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT, 2005
(Ref: DGM/G/MAS letter no: G.50/PG/RIA/Vol.7 dated 11.11.2005.)
4 (1) (b) Publish within one hundred and twenty days from the enactment of this Act,-
(i) The particulars of its organization, functions and duties;
The Stores Department is headed by Principal Chief Materials Manager (PCMM) assisted by 3 Chief Materials Managers (CMMs), 6 Deputy Chief Materials Managers (Dy.CMMs), 2 Senior Materials Managers (SMMs) and 3 Asst. Materials Manager (AMM) at Headquarters office.
The Stores Headquarters discharges the functions of Headquarters of the department of over seeing the Administration of the Stores set-up in the field units and the purchase function. In Southern Railway, there are 6 Divisional Stores set-ups and 25 Stores Depots (including 6 Divisional Stores Depots) spread over in the States of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.The General Stores Depot (GSD/PER) at Perambur is managed by CMM. The Mechanical Stores Depot at Golden Rock, Carriage Stores Depot at Perambur and Signal Stores Depot at Podanur are managed by Dy.CMMs. Other depots are managed by AMMs or SMMs. The Divisional Stores set-ups are managed by Sr. DMMs in Chennai, Salem, Tiruchirapalli, Trivandrum & Palghat and by Senior Scale Officer in Madurai .
The Stores Department runs General Printing Press atRoyapuram
The Office of the Principal Chief Materials Manager (PCMM)and FA & CAO Workshops & Stores Accounts Office of Southern Railway are located at the Joint Office complex at Ayanavaram, Chennai – 600 023 which is about 8 KMs away from Southern Railway Headquarters Office at Park town, Chennai–600 003, where the Office of the General Manager of Southern Railway and the Headquarters Offices of other departments are situated. The list of 25 Stores Depots with Depot code and address is available in website www.sr.indianrailways.gov.in. "Citizens of India are requested to go through the following before seeking information from Stores Department, Southern Railway":
1. It is not open to ask the quality of the action on the information with prefixes such as "Why, What, When and whether".
2. Reports classified as Confidential/secrets cannot be disclosed.
3. The party who seeks the information has to seek the information as a Citizen of India under his signature.
4. Any information not related to Public interest or activity can not be disclosed.
5. As per RTI Act 2005, applicant has to remit a fee of Rs.2/- per page x no. of sheets for obtaining information.
6. There is limitation for keeping records under safe custody as the nature of work in Controller of Stores Office necessitates dealing with papers of voluminous nature. Due to space constraint and also the relevancy of keeping the files as records, the files are to be kept as record, as per the following time frame:
Files/Particulars Period
Purchase Orders 6 Years
Auction Registers 6 Years
Attendance Registers 6 Years
All other correspondence 6 Years
Public/Citizens are requested to seek the information which are sought may fall within the retention period, prior to which, it may likely to be turned down, as the limitation period exceeds.
7. The Right to Information provision has to be used to seek information only and the requests should not be resorted to as grievance redressal. It is once again requested to go through the above paras before seeking any information from Principal Chief Materials Manager (PCMM), Southern Railway after paying the stipulated fees.
(This web page is subject to addition / revision / deletion based on CIC's directives)
FUNCTIONS AND DUTIES OF THE STORES DEPARTMENT:
The Stores Department is in-charge of -
(a) Purchase/Procurement of stock and non-stock items.
(b) Stocking and supplying of stock items to its own consignees.
(c) Disposal of scrap: Identification, mobilization, Custody and Saleof scrap.
(d) Printing of Railway Books & Forms, card Tickets and Money value items.
GENERAL STORES DEPOT:
There are three General Stores Depots, which are located at Perambur, Golden Rock and Palghat for serving the requirement of Railway stations and small consumers, imprest holders etc. in the divisions. In addition to these, divisional purchase organizations are functioning in each division under the administrative control of Divisional Managers for assisting the Divisions in Stores matters in purchase activities and to liaison with PCMM Office.
WORKSHOP STORES DEPOTS:
Depots are attached with workshops to cater to the material requirement of workshops. They are located at Golden Rock, Perambur and Podanur.
STORES DEPOTS ATTACHED TO LOCO SHEDS:
Diesel Locos, Electric Locos & EMU sheds have Stores Depots attached to them to meet their materials requirements exclusively. These are Diesel Stores Depot/Erode, Traction Stores Depot/Tambaram, Diesel Stores Depot/Golden rock, Electric Loco Stores Depot/Arakkonam, Diesel Stores Depot/Ernakulam, Diesel Stores Depot/ Tondiarpet, Traction Stores Depot/Avadi , Electric Loco Stores Depot at Erode and Electric Loco Stores Depot, Royapuram.
COACH MAINTENANCE STORES DEPOT/BASIN BRIDGE [CMSD/BBQ]:
GM/S.Rly inaugurated Coach Maintenance Stores Depot at Basin Bridge on 15.07.02 in Chennai Division. This depot caters to the needs of the Train Care Centre/BBQ. This is one of the Super mega Coach Maintenance Centers in Indian Railways. Every day this depot maintains Coaches and the total holding is nearly 1041 coaches.
DIVISIONAL STORES DEPOTS:
In addition to this, Divisional Stores Depots are functioning at Salem, Madurai, Trivandrum, Tiruchirapalli, Madras and Palghat under the control of the respective divisional Stores Officers serving the respective divisions.
Stock and Non-stock items:-
Items of regular consumption required by the various indentors of the Railways are stocked in the Stores Depots. On Southern Railway there are almost 5323 such stock items. The categorization of these items based on the end use is as follows: -
(a) Diesel Loco Spares Items
(b) A.C. Loco spares/General Electrical Items
(c) Carriage & Wagon including EMU Spares Items
(d) S&T items
(e) Other items including Engg. Consumable and General items
For enabling systematic management of the purchase and warehousing functions, all these items are categorized into 59 major groups with each item being given a unified 8-digit Price Ledger number all over the Indian Railways. These stock items are stocked in 25 Stores Depots as already stated above. Procurement of stock items is done in the Headquarters purchase wing. The Stores Depot has the responsibility of maintaining the inventory, accountal of receipts and issues, inspection and acceptance of stores and feeding the necessary data for accountal and generation of recoupment memos which are done through the centralized computer system. In addition to procurement and warehousing of the stock items as detailed above, the Stores Department also arranges procurement of non- stock items by placing purchase orders against the non-stock indents received from the indentors, the supply of which is made directly to consignee at consignee end. Nearly 1725 non-stock demands from the indentors are complied, by the Stores Department per annum.
(ii) The powers and duties of its officers and employees;
Duty of purchase officers of the Stores Department is to arrange the right material at right price for the right quantity from right source, and to stock and issue the material to consignees attached to workshops, sheds and in Divisions.
The procurement is made mainly at Headquarters office vide powers delegated as under:
Headquarters Officers Purchase Powers
AMM upto Rs. 5 Lakhs (Direct Purchase)
SMM above Rs. 5 Lakhs and upto 10 Lakhs (Direct Purchase)
DY.CMM above Rs.10 Lakhs and upto Rs.50 Lakhs (Direct Purchase)
SMM above Rs. 50Lakhs and upto 1 Crore (TC Cases- Accepted byDy.CMM)
DY.CMM above Rs. 1 Crore and upto 10 Crores (TC Cases- Accepted by CMM)
CMM above Rs. 10 Crores and upto Rs. 200 Crores(TC Cases- Accepted by PCMM)
PCMM above Rs. 200 Crores and upto Rs.500 Crores (TC cases accepted by AGM)
PCMM above Rs. 500 Crores(TC cases accepted by GM)
The Stores Officers at Depots/Divisions in addition to their warehousing and issuing of materials to consuming departments as and when needed also arrange for procurement of material through their purchase powers delegated to them as detailed below. The Divisional Stores Officers in addition also liaison with divisions in their material requirement and distribution of uniforms to eligible categories of staff of other departments.
Depot and Divisional Officers purchase powers:
For Stock items:
| Division | Depot | Purchase powers |
| Sr.DMM | Dy.CMM | Rs.50 lakhs per case |
| DMM (Independent Charge) | SMM (Independent Charge) | Rs.10 lakhs per case |
| DMM ( Other than Independent Charge) & AMM | SMM (Other than Independent Charge) & AMM | Rs.5 lakhs per case |
For Non-Stock items:
| Division | Depot | Purchase powers |
| Sr.DMM | Dy.CMM | Rs.50 lakhs per case |
| DMM | SMM | Rs.10 lakhs per case |
| AMM | AMM | Rs.5 lakhs per case |
Employees do not have purchase powers and are assisting the officers in procurement process.
(iii) The procedure followed in the decision making process, including channels of supervision and accountability is covered under the following chapters in Schedule of Powers – Stores Matters, Part B:-
(a) Approval of quantity for procurement
(b) Invitation and tender for indigenous procurement
(c) Consideration tenders
(d) Signing of indents and Purchase Orders
(e) Operation of contracts
(f) Local Purchase
(g) Tender/Auction Sale
(iv) The norms set by it for the discharge of its functions: The norms as given in the records mentioned below under Sl. No (v) are applicable for this also.
(v) The rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records held by it or under its control or used by employees for discharging its functions;
1. Stores Code
2. Rules for entering into contract
3. Stores compendium
4. DGS&D Manual
5. IRS conditions of Contract
6. Schedule of Powers
7. General condition for auction sale of scrap materials
8. Railway Board orders
(vi) A statement of the categories of documents that are held by it or under its control:
In case of purchases,
1. Mother document – Stock Recoupment Sheet for stock item and Non-Stock indent
for non stock requirements.
2. Purchase proposal for approval of quantity.
3. Tender Schedule with due date.
4. Tabulation Statement of offers received against tenders
5. Technical Scrutiny of offers received from consignee based on the requirement
and merits of the case.
6. Direct acceptance/TC minutes with acceptance.
7. Purchase Order
In case of sales,
1. S1539 condemnation authorizing certificate
2. Auction Catalogue
3. Bid sheet
4. Sale Advice
5. Delivery Order
(vii)The particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with, or representation by, the members of the public in relation to the formulation of its policy or implementation thereof; The entire control for formulation and implementation rests with Railway Board, hence no arrangement exists here.
(viii)A statement of the boards, councils, committees and other bodies consisting of two or more persons constituted as its part or for the purpose of its advice, and as to whether meetings of those boards, councils, committees and other bodies are open to the public, or the minutes of such meetings are accessible for public;As the entire gamut of the advisory body etc and its meetings ,whether it is open to public and the minutes of the meeting of the body is accessible to public, are not known at Zonal level as this has been organized at Board's level and only the decisions are forwarded for information.
(ix) A directory of its officers and employees; Available at Portal maintained by CPO under the heading "MATERIALS MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT".
(x)The monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and employees, including the system of compensation as provided in its regulations; Available at Portal maintained by CPO under the heading "MATERIALS MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT".
(xi)The budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures and reports on disbursements made; Stores organization functioning under the control of Principal Chief Materials Manager (PCMM) proposes its requirements 6 months in advance for Parliament approval in the form of budget allocation, to incur the expenditure, the disbursement of the same is made through attached Accounts Officer.
(xii)The manner of execution of subsidy programs, including the amounts allocated and the details of beneficiaries of such programs;No subsidized program exists in Stores Department.
(xiii)Particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or authorizations granted by it; Permits or authorization are not granted. The concessions given are as follows:-
BENEFITS EXTENDED TO REGISTERED FIRMS:
1. Limited tender enquiries upto Rs.25 lakhs are sent to participate in Limited tenders for their registered groups.
2. Exemption from payment of security deposit within the monetary limit for other than safety items against Open tenders.
3. Exemption from payment of EMD against open tenders and Special limited tender up to the monetary limit given to the firms.
4. Eligible to draw 95% and 98% advance payment against receipted challan and inspection certificate.
Facilities to the SSI units registered with NSIC:
a) Issue of tender sets free of cost.
b) Exemption from payment of earnest money deposit.
c) Waiver of security deposit up to the monetary limit for which the unit is
registered.
d) Preference is given for purchase of Khadi from KVIC & Handloom from
ACASH.
(xiv)Details in respect of the information, available to or held by it, reduced in an electronic form;
The details such as Auction schedule for sale of Railway material to public, Requisite particulars for vendor registration are available in S.Rly website www.sr.indianrailways.gov.in
(xv)The particulars of facilities available to citizens for obtaining information including the working hours of a library or reading room, if maintained for public use;
a. Public can have access to the information available on Stores Department Website - www.sr.indianrailways.gov.in
b. There is an Information Centre in the Office of the Principal Chief Materials Manager (PCMM), New Joint Office, Ayanavaram, Chennai-23.
c. There is no separate library or reading room for public at present.
(xvi) The names, designations and other particulars of the Appellate Authority, Public Information Officer and the Asst. Public Information Officer in the Office of the Principal Chief Materials Manager, Ayanavaram, Chennai-600 023:-
1. Shri. A.K.Biswakarma, Chief Materials Manager/CN & Appellate Authority.
Phone: 044-26743865,Mobile No.9003060401
2. Smt.IreneNeethu Singh, Deputy Chief Materials Manager/Traction/PER & Public Information
Officer Phone: 044-26740869, Mobile No: 9003160792
3. K.Pandiyan ,Secy to PCMM & Assistant Public Information Officer
Phone: 044-26741723, Mobile No: 9003160788
(xvii) (a) Such other information may be prescribed and thereafter updated these publications every year:
The information available in website are updated periodically, as and when necessary and whenever advice/ amendment / instructions received from Railway Board.
(b) Published all relevant facts while formulating important policies or announcing the decisions which affect public:
This aspect is dealt only at Railway Board.
(c) Provided reasons for its administrative or quasi-judicial decisions to affected persons:
Yes, through Arbitration governed by Arbitration Act 1996 embedded in IRS conditions of Contract amended from time to time.
SUOMOTO Disclosure & Transparency in Procurement:-
- All purchase requirements of value more than Rs. 25 Lakhs are published in all leading newspapers through tenders which is open to public to participate.
-Tender call letters are sent to valid registered suppliers by e-mail.
* Auction Programs are updated in Southern Railway website based on monthly auction program.
* The list of registered firms along with the date of validity are updated in Southern Railway website.
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