Indian Railway Codes and Manuals-Stores code- Vol-I-Chapter-10 (X)
PURCHASE OF SLEEPERS
1001. Kind of sleepers.—Sleepers of three kinds :— (i) Wooden Sleepers;
(ii) Metal Sleepers, which may be of:—
(a) Cast Iron; or
(b) Steel; and
(hi) Concrete Sleepers.
Changes.—The category of Concrete Sleepers has been
added.
1002. General
Procedure for Procurement of Sleepers.—Procurement of sleepers is centralised
in the Railway Board along with other centralised track items.
1003. Demand
of Sleepers.—The requirement of sleepers are for planned- track renewal works,
new constructions and doublings approved by the Railway
Board. In addition, there are also small requirements for
casual renewal works for day to day maintenance of the track. The
annual requirement of various types of sleepers namely, wooden, cast iron,
steel and concrete sleepers is reviewed in the annual Chief Track Engineers'
conference with the Railway Board, which is generally held in the month of
January/February each year, a head of the commencement of the next financial
year.
Keeping in view the actual requirement as assessed in the
conference, the funds position and availability of sleepers in the country, the
Railway Board makes specific allotment for various types of sleepers to the
zonal railways. The allotments are done separately for open line &
construction. In respect of wooden sleepers, separate allotment is made for
S&T works.
Procurement action for wooden, steel and concrete sleepers
is initiated by the Board directly on the basis of the allotment decided.
Railways are not required to submit any vetted indents. The demand for these
three types of sleepers far exceeds the available capacity in the
country.
In regard to cast iron sleepers, the zonal railways are
required to submit vetted indents for their actual demand. The procurement
action for this type of sleeper is initiated by the Railway Board on receipt of
vetted indents.
1004. Procurement
of Wooden Sleepers:—The wooden sleepers are made available by the forest
departments of various states. An annual sleeper conference held by the Railway
Board with the conservators of forests of various states where the availability
of wooden sleepers is reviewed. The Railway Board distributes the available
quantity of sleepers to the various Railways on the basis of this
meeting.
The commitments made by the Conservator of Forests are
valid for one year, known as 'Sleeper Year', which extends from 1st November to
31st October of next year.
The rates are also decided in this meeting.
The following 5 Railways have been nominated to procure the
sleepers as per the allotment made by the Railway Board and on the rates
decided in the meeting :
N.R., N.E., N.F., S.E., and S.R.
These Railways inspect the sleepers offered by the forest
departments and arrange to lift and distribute it to the various consignees on
their own Railways as well as other Railways. Demands are made by these
nominated Railways.
1005 to 1025—Deleted.
1026.
Sleeper Specification.—The procurement of sleepers will be done as per the
specification approved by the Railway Board.
1027 to 1031.—Deleted.
SHORT RECEIPT OF SLEEPERS FROM SLEEPER POOL OR THE FOREST
DEPARTMENT
1032. Opening
of Wagons.—Whenever possible, Wagons should be opened in the presence of a
Traffic Clerk or authorized representative of the Railway bringing the wagons
into the siding, and a remark should be made in the Delivery Book regarding any
discrepancies as regards seals or labels or other irregular
circumstances.
1033. Verification
by Traffic Staff.—In case of short receipt of sleepers, the consignees should
get the Traffic Staff to verify and report the shortage by telegram to the
sending station and last sealing station. It is essential that
no time should be lost in having the shortage verified by the Traffic Staff,
as, unless the telegram reporting the shortage is issued within six hours of
the wagon being opened, foreign railways will not accept liability.
1034. Telegraphic
Report, Discrepancy Reports and Claims Forms.—A copy of the telegram together
with all seals and labels of the wagon together with Discrepancy Report and
Claim Form, duly certified by the Traffic Clerk in whose presence the wagon was
opened should be sent by the consignee to the Chief Operating Superintendent,
and two copies each to the Chief Engineer and Controller of
Stores. After filling the value of the missing sleepers, one
copy of each of the above documents should be sent to the Chief Operating
Superintendent.
1035. It
is important that Claim Form and Discrepancy Report should be sent promptly to
the Chief Operating Superintendent to prevent the claim from becoming
time-barred.
1036. Missing
Consignments.—In cases where the railway receipt has been received and the
entire consignment is missing, the consignee, after a fortnight, should remind
the Chief Operating Superintendent of the railway concerned, and if the
sleepers have not turned up after a month, he should send a Missing Stores
Report to the Chief Commercial Manager (vide paragraph 2131-S).
1037. Acknowledgement
of Missing Sleepers after Trace.—Missing sleepers on receipt, should be
acknowledged under a fresh acknowledgment form, and the parties concerned
advised so that the claim on the Traffic Department may be withdrawn.
1038. Bills
relating to Short Received or Missing Consignments.—The bill, in the case of a
part or full consignment being missing, should not be detained but should be
accepted and passed with necessary remarks to the Chief Accounts
Officer. A bill for defective sleepers, however, should not be
passed. It should be detained by the District Engineer
or Controller of Stores, until the question is finally settled.
METAL SLEEPERS
1039. Procurement
of Cast Iron Sleepers.—The zonal railway submit vetted indents for the
requirements of cast iron sleepers to the Railway Board
(S-1003). The procurement is done by the Railway
Board. The procurement is made from trade.
1040. Procurement
of Steel Sleepers.—The steel sleepers are also procured by the Railway
Board. However, no indents are submitted by Zonal
Railways. The procurement is done on the basis of the allotment
made by the Railway Board in the annual Chief Track Engineers' Conference
(S-1003). Durgapur Steel Plant is the only supplier of the steel
sleepers. The entire production of the plant is taken by the
Railways, the actual requirement being far in excess of the production.
The rates are as fixed by the Joint Plant Committee.
CONCRETE SLEEPERS
1041. The
supplies of concrete sleepers are made by concrete sleeper plants which have
been established at various locations in the country, as per requirements of
the Railways. These are mostly in private sector, though a few
plants are in Railway/Public Sector also. These locations are
distributed all over the country and have been chosen to facilitate the supply
of concrete sleepers from the plants to specified sections of the Railway.
The Railway Board invites open tenders for setting up the
concrete sleeper plants at the desired locations for supply of concrete
sleepers from the plant. The contracts are entered on lone term basis
(generally for 5/10 years' period) since placement of contracts on annual basis
has not been found economically viable. The basic rate for sleeper is given in
the contracts with provision for escalation for items like cement, labour, etc.
The contracts are signed by the Zonal Railways in whose jurisdiction the
factory is to be established. The entire production of the plant is taken by
the Zonal Railway as per the terms and conditions of the contract.
Multiple Choice Questions:
1.
What are the three kinds of sleepers mentioned?
a) Wooden, Metal, and Concrete
b) Plastic, Metal, and Wooden
c) Concrete, Plastic, and Metal
d) Wooden, Steel, and Rubber
Answer: a) Wooden, Metal, and
Concrete
2.
Who is responsible for the centralized procurement of sleepers?
a) Zonal Railways
b) Railway Board
c) Forest Department
d) State Governments
Answer: b) Railway Board
3.
How is the annual requirement of various types of sleepers reviewed?
a) Through monthly reports
b) During the annual Chief Track Engineers' conference
c) Via online submissions
d) By the individual zones
Answer: b) During the annual Chief
Track Engineers' conference
4.
What type of sleepers are obtained from the forest departments of various
states?
a) Concrete
b) Steel
c) Wooden
d) Cast Iron
Answer: c) Wooden
5.
How long are the commitments made by the Conservator of Forests valid?
a) One financial year
b) One calendar year
c) Sleeper year (1st November to 31st October)
d) Till the next meeting
Answer: c) Sleeper year (1st
November to 31st October)
6.
What should be done in case of short receipt of sleepers?
a) Wait for a week and then file a
report
b) Verify and report the shortage by telegram within six hours
c) Contact the supplier directly
d) Ignore and proceed with available sleepers
Answer: b) Verify and report the
shortage by telegram within six hours
7.
Who handles the procurement of cast iron sleepers?
a) Zonal Railways
b) Railway Board
c) Individual contractors
d) Steel plants
Answer: b) Railway Board
8.
Which plant is the sole supplier of steel sleepers?
a) Bhilai Steel Plant
b) Rourkela Steel Plant
c) Durgapur Steel Plant
d) Tata Steel
Answer: c) Durgapur Steel Plant
9.
How are concrete sleeper plants established?
a) By the state governments
b) Through open tenders invited by the Railway Board
c) By the Zonal Railways independently
d) By foreign companies
Answer: b) Through open tenders
invited by the Railway Board
10.
For how long are the contracts for concrete sleeper plants generally signed?
a) 1 year
b) 2 years
c) 3 years
d) 5/10 years
Answer: d) 5/10 years
11.
What is the purpose of the sleeper conference held by the Railway Board with
the forest departments?
a) To review the availability of
metal sleepers
b) To discuss the rates and distribution of wooden sleepers
c) To plan new constructions
d) To evaluate the performance of sleeper plants
Answer: b) To discuss the rates and
distribution of wooden sleepers
12.
What should be done when the entire consignment of sleepers is missing?
a) File a missing report immediately
b) Wait for a fortnight before reminding the Chief Operating Superintendent
c) Contact the supplier
d) Arrange a new consignment
Answer: b) Wait for a fortnight
before reminding the Chief Operating Superintendent
13.
How are concrete sleepers supplied to specified sections of the railway?
a) From centralized warehouses
b) Directly from sleeper plants
c) Through forest departments
d) Via imported shipments
Answer: b) Directly from sleeper
plants
14.
How should bills be handled in the case of a part or full consignment being
missing?
a) Detain the bill
b) Pass the bill with necessary remarks to the Chief Accounts Officer
c) Reject the bill
d) Send the bill back to the supplier
Answer: b) Pass the bill with
necessary remarks to the Chief Accounts Officer
15.
What is the role of the Chief Track Engineers' conference regarding sleepers?
a) To finalize the types of sleepers
b) To review the annual requirement and funds position
c) To inspect the quality of sleepers
d) To allocate budget for sleeper procurement
Answer: b) To review the annual
requirement and funds position
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