Currency Note Press (Nashik) prints faulty notes, three suspended

It’s an old story that the country is flooded with fake currency notes. The Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited (SPMCIL), the company responsible for printing currency notes in India, is doing all it can do prevent this by increasing security features in the banknotes the company prints.

27 Jan 2016 | By PrintWeek India

But what happens when the company starts printing faulty banknotes?

Recently, the company suspended three employees of Currency Note Press (CNP), Nashik and issued notices against six others after it was found that a large number of Rs 1,000 denomination notes were printed without the silver line security feature. It is the basic security feature of Indian currency notes.

The SPMCIL had appointed a three-member committee to look into the matter. The action was taken after the committee submitted its report.

According to reports, the paper for the currency was supplied by the Security Paper Mill, Hoshangabad, also owned by SPMCIL, and the printing was done at Nashik.

After the inquiry, three employees from the Colour Examine Section, including an examiner, a junior checker and a final checker have been suspended for negligence of duty. Six other members of the staff have been issued notices.

The committee observed that even if the paper was supplied by another agency, it was the duty of the people working on the positions to check if the paper for printing was proper or not.

Meanwhile, the India Security Press and the Currency Note Press Employees’ Union, affiliated to the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, has protested against the suspension of the workers. The union said the employees shouldn’t be suspended as the paper was supplied by another agency.

The Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited was formed after corporatisation of nine units, including four mints, four presses and one paper mill which were earlier functioning under the Ministry of Finance. Incorporated on 13 January 2006, under the Companies Act, 1956, with its headquarters in New Delhi, SPMCIL is a wholly owned Schedule ‘A’ company of the Government of India. The company is engaged in the manufacture of security paper, minting of coins, printing of currency and banknotes, non-judicial stamp papers, postage stamps, travel documents, etc.

Comprising of total 15,000 employees in all its nine units, SPMCIL produces currency notes and coins, non-judicial stamp papers, postal stationery, stamps, passports, visa stickers and other travel documents.

(With help from news agencies.)