New Delhi:
It was really a rare sight as the chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force appeared in Parliament today, for the first time in 50 years. MPs wanted to know why soldiers were getting sub-standard rations and some time getting them late.
Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had summoned them today to explain alleged discrepancies in ration procurement and distribution.
While, Army Chief VK Singh and Air Chief PV Naik appeared before the PAC, the Navy was represented by Vice Chief D K Deewan, as chief Nirmal Verma is in Indonesia on a "pre-scheduled" four-day visit which began on Sunday.
The chiefs made a detailed presentation and MPs in turn had several suggestions on improving the delivery and quality of rations which the chiefs agreed to take on board as soon as possible.
After the meeting, which lasted for over two hours, General VK Singh said the forces would take into account what the MPs said on ration supply. "Interaction between the political and military leadership is good thing," General Singh said.
The service chiefs have, however, flatly refused to allow audits of internally-run canteens across the three services.
Murali Manohar Joshi, the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee said, "The service chiefs have agreed to return with suggestions and measures. Once they submit their proposal, the PAC will then consider the next step."
The CAG had said in a 2009 report that the Canteen Stores Department's procurement and distribution of dry rations was faulty.
Highlighting the irregularities in the Canteen Stores Department, the CAG had said, "The existing procedure for provisioning of dry rations failed to assess the requirement realistically. The failure was mainly due to systemic deficiencies due to which different quantities were worked out at different echelons applying different parameters..."
The report had said that the risk of existence of "cartels" affecting the quantity and quality of rations is too serious to be ignored.