SRINAGAR Jammu and Kashmir Police on Thursday denied the news report, carried by a Jammu based newspaper in which it was informed that a major scam has surfaced in Police Department where protection level has been compromised in the procurement of thousands of Bullet Proof vests and headgears, and bullet proofing of gypsies.
In this regard, the J&K Police issued a rebuttal which reads…
Apropos to the News item it is informed that the news item is factually incorrect and the allegations levelled are totally baseless. The detailed rebuttal is as under:-
Bullet Resistant Jacket/Patka
PHQ J&K has been making persistent efforts since 2012 to procure BR Jackets on tender basis but the same failed to mature for various reasons. This resulted in a huge gap in the availability of BR Jackets for Police personnel performing CI Ops/duty in the field. J&K Police issued an open tender in the year 2012 and subsequent order dated 27.07.2013 was placed to the successful firm for supply of BR Jackets. However, the supplier firm M/S Adigear International, New Delhi failed to execute order despite repeated requests and reminders with the result the order had to be cancelled. The department had issued three consecutive tenders in 2015 for the procurement of Light Weight Bullet Proof Jackets which did not mature.
Meanwhile, due to the dastardly killing (June 16, 2017) of SHO Achabal (Late SI Feroz Ahmad) along with 5 escort personnel in a terrorist ambush compelled Police Headquarters to initiate urgent steps to procure light weight body armour for the Police personnel braving terrorist attacks. A high powered MHA team visited J&K and were apprised of the lack of protective gear. A proposal of J&K Police to procure BR Jackets/Patkas was approved by MHA, GoI.
The issue of purchase from a Government undertaking instead of open tender is as per Instructions to the Rules in J&K Financial Code. Accordingly, the sample Light Weight Bullet Proof Jackets of M/S PEC Ltd, a Govt. of India Enterprise was put to ballistic testing by a team constituted by PHQ. After obtaining approval from the competent authority (State Level Purchase Committee) orders were placed for purchase of much needed body armour for the officers and men of the department as per the provisions of Financial Code. The supplies were received in various lots over a period of 6-7 months and put to rigorous field testing as per the terms and condition of the supply order. On PHQ directions, CRPF also conducted test of supplies in the month of September, 2017. During these field tests, the concerned boards found the supplies as well as the samples in conformity with the specifications. In November, 2017, MHA authorized PHQ J&K to procure 1000 Light Weight BR Jackets for CRPF as the CRPF tender had failed to mature.
With respect to reasonability of rates, attention is brought towards the fact that out of three tenders floated by PHQ in the year 2015, the rate quoted by the qualified firm i.e., M/S TATA Advanced Materials Bangalore was?51068/- (weight 7 kgs) per jacket. However, the rate at which J&K Police purchased the Jackets is ?32480/- (weight 5.8 kgs) per jacket inclusive of taxes which was far lower & reasonable.
Bullet-Proofing Gypsys by M/S PEC Limited, New Delhi
In view of increase in targeting of SF Convoys/Camps, there was an urgent requirement of BP vehicles. PHQ J&K got one prototype BP Gypsy fabricated from M/S PEC Limited (A GoI Enterprise, New Delhi) against sanction order no. 110 of 2017 dated 10.01.2017. The work of bullet proofing allocated to M/S PEC Ltd is as per the rules governing the Financial Code. After SLPC approval of Prototype BP Gypsy/rate & source, PHQ J&K vide sanction order No. 1007 of 2017 dated 22.03.2017 accorded sanction for the bullet-proofing of 22 nos. Gypsys from M/S PEC Limited New Delhi @ of Rs. 8, 91,942/-. The Gypsys were put to rigorous field testing comprising Board of Officers of CRPF and JKP. The field testing conformed to the specifications.
Supply order for bullet-proofing of 21 Gypsies (ST) was placed by this Hqrs. vide no. MTR-51/2016/2300-03 dated 21.04.2017, in addition to one Prototype BP Gypsy already fabricated by the firm. These 22 Gypsies bullet-proofed by M/S PEC Limited New Delhi have been received, surveyed by Survey Board and allotted to sub-ordinate units. Bills of these 22 Gypsies (BP) have been received by this Hqrs. Due to non-availability of funds, payment/fabrication charges are yet to be paid.
It is pertinent to mention here that the rates quoted by Vehicle Factory Jabalpur, GoI, Ministry of Defence is Rs.15,15,120 for bullet proofing on Maruti Gypsy. Hence the rates at which the gypsies were fabricated are far lower and reasonable.
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