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Cracks in the Canteen
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CAG slams widespread malpractices in Indian Army’s ration supply chainactions |
The Army needs to look after its men
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A FORCE Report
Napoleon Bonaparte had said that an army marches on its stomach. That is, soldiers need a regular supply of food in order to keep on fighting. But, the latest report of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee on the ministry of defence has come out with a shocking revelation. It exposes how jawans have been served food items that had, in some cases, crossed their expiry dates by six to 28 months. The Committee, in its report tabled in winter session of Parliament has pointed out ‘several glaring deficiencies and inadequacies’ in the supply chain management of rations in the army.
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The Army Service Corps (ASC), in conjunction with the Army Purchase Organisation (APO), undertakes the task of provisioning, procuring and supplying both dry and fresh rations on a daily basis to about 14 lakh personnel of the army. It is the primary responsibility of the Corps to provide wholesome and nutritious food to troops to meet their calorific and nutritious requirements so as to enhance their performance in various terrains and climatic conditions.
But, the PAC has found ‘deep-rooted and widespread malpractices’ in army’s ration supply chain. These, among others, include outdated procurement procedures adopted by the ASC for provisioning of dry rations, issue of rations to troops even after expiry of original Estimates Storage Life (ESL), highly non-competitive procurement procedure, deviation from the laid down norms of tendering process, rampant shortcomings in contracts for procurement of rations leading to excess and short procurements, discrepancy in issue and receipt of various items and poor satisfaction level of troops regarding quality, quantity and taste of rations. The Committee said it was startled to know that ‘ESL of a number of dry rations was extended by an army lab beyond its permissible limit. Still worse, these dry rations were consumed by the troops even six to 28 months after expiry of their normal ESL’, it said. |
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