| Irony! Legal Metrology wastes Rs 1.18 crore due to non- availability of a driver | | Mobile crane parked in private premises for a decade, rear tyres stolen, public exchequer bears brunt | | Peerzada Ummer
Early Times Report
Jammu, Apr 1: Call it an irony or a cruel joke, Rs 1.18 crore were left non- utilised by the Legal Metrology Department of Jammu and Kashmir due to the non- availability of a driver who would have operated mobile cranes fitted with weigh bridge testing kits.
Documents in possession of Early Times reveal that the Legal Metrology Department failed to engage the driver and trained staff for operating mobile cranes fitted with weigh bridge testing kits provided by Government of India for an amount of Rs 1.18 crore, resulting in their under-utilisation and defeating the intended purpose to modernise and transform the manual practice of calibration/ verification of weigh bridges.
The Government of India (GoI) under the scheme ‘Strengthening of Weights and Measures Infrastructure provided two mobile cranes fitted with weigh bridge testing kits for an amount of Rs 1.18 crore in December 2008 and March 2012 to the Legal Metrology Department, Government of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Deputy Controller, Legal Metrology, Jammu projected in March 2009 a minimum revenue of Rs 10 lakh per annum by use of these mobile testing kits. The Government of J&K fixed November 2011 Rs 2,000 as user fee for utilisation of mobile kit loaded with testing weights for verification of weigh bridges installed across the State.
As per the documents, one mobile crane received in December 2008 could not be put to use till May 2010, on the grounds of non-availability of driver/ operator and required funds for maintenance. Subsequently from May 2010 to November 2010, it was put to use for only seven months by obtaining a driver on deputation from the Jammu and Kashmir State Road Transport Corporation (JKSRTC). During this period, only 11 weigh bridges were verified.
This mobile crane was off road since November 2010 due to non-availability of funds, and was parked in the premises of a private industry at the Industrial Estate, Kathua. The rear tyres of the mobile crane have been stolen in January 2011 for which First Information Report has been lodged with the police.
Subsequently, the Joint Controller, Legal Metrology, Jammu requested in August 2012 Director, Legal Metrology, GoI, New Delhi for withdrawal of this vehicle, on the grounds that due to its large size, it could not be used optimally in the lanes and by lanes of industrial units of Jammu and further added that the said vehicle be taken back and allotted to some other requisitioning and needy State. A second mobile crane was received from the GoI in March 2012, and put to use only from February 2015 to June 2018 after making internal arrangements for a driver. This second mobile crane also remained non-functional since July 2018 due to non-availability of a driver. It is being stated by the department that 887 weigh bridges were verified/ re-verified by the Department during 2009-18 for which an amount of Rs 17.74 lakh was recovered. It was also stated that as per log book only 171 weigh bridges were verified/ re-verified by the testing kit provided and remaining 716 weigh bridges were passed without utilisation of testing kits. Therefore, user fee of Rs 3.42 lakh was only recovered by the use of mobile testing kits.
Since the Department failed to engage driver/ trained staff to ensure effective usage and maintenance for functioning of these cranes, these mobile cranes provided for Rs 1.18 crore have remained idle. The Department, as per the official sources, was able to recover user fee of Rs 17.74 lakh only during 2009-18, which was far less than the estimated collection of user fee of Rs 90 lakh projected in March 2009 by Deputy Controller, Legal Metrology, Jammu by use of mobile testing kits. Therefore, the Department could not modernise and transform the manual practice of calibration/ verification of weigh bridges due to which the human interface could not be minimised. |
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