Troops guarding Siachen, world’s highest battlefield, in temperatures many degrees below zero were without adequate essential clothing and snow goggles from 2015 to 2016 due to delay in procurement in the previous four years (extending from UPA-2). In fact, the shortage of snow goggles touched 98 per cent.
The Modi dispensation came to power in June 2014.
Flagging these alarming facts, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said the troops also did not get high calorie rations necessary to maintain their energy requirements. This compromised the calorie intake by as high as 82 per cent.
Making these observations in its report on Monday, the CAG said troops in high altitude areas such as Siachen and Ladakh among others need to be provided high altitude clothing, equipment and special ration to enable the troops to effectively withstand the inclement weather and ailments caused from extreme cold weather conditions.
The Performance Audit findings of provisioning and procurement of these items during the period 2015-16 to 2017-18 said there were delays in procurement of high altitude clothing and equipment items up to four years leading to acute shortage of essential clothing and equipment items.
It led to critical shortage in snow goggles ranging from 62 per cent to 98 per cent. The troops were not issued ‘multi-purpose boots’ from November 2015 to September 2016 and had to resort to recycling of available boots.
Further, old versions of items such as face mask, jacket and sleeping bags were procured which deprived the soldiers from the benefits of using improved products. Lack of research and development by defence laboratory led to continued dependence on import, the report noted.
The high altitude clothing and equipment are issued to soldiers deployed above 6,000 feet and include items like boots, coats, goggles, sleeping bags, tents, mattress, snow shoes, gaiters, spare glasses.
The DG Ordnance Services under Master General of Ordnance in the Army headquarters is responsible for provisioning, procurement, receipt, storage and issue.
Referring to a case study of delays, the CAG said 1,16,732 camp mattresses outdoor were needed and the supply order was placed on a firm in June 2013. However, the firm did not supply any even after five years and the order was not cancelled due to non-supply.
As regards goggles, the CAG said no item was received against the supply order for 9,61,605 pairs even though the indent was placed on Ordnance Factory, Dehradun between December 2010 and May 2016. The goggles are an essential part of the high altitude gear as they protect soldiers from visionary ailments including snow blindness.
The CAG asked the Defence Ministry to conduct enquiry into various cases of irregularities in procurement of high altitude equipment and initiate action against those responsible for lapses.
As regards special rations, the Government watchdog said special scales of such rations are authorized to the troops to meet their daily energy requirements. However, substitutes in lieu of scaled items were authorized on “cost to cost’’ basis which resulted in supply of reduced quantity of substitutes. This compromised the calorie intake of the troops by as high as 82 per cent.
Quoting an example, the CAG said at Leh station in one instance it was noticed that the special ration items were shown as issued to troops for consumption without their actual receipt.
Explaining the significance of special rations, the report said the high altitude region has extreme conditions wherein temperatures fall below minus 50 degrees during severe winter conditions.
This causes loss of appetite due to various physiological changes leading to weight loss and reduction in performance. The normal ration scale is not sufficient for the calorific value required for the high altitude area.
The basic objective of giving special rations to the troops at 12,000 feet and above is to provide alternative food items to alleviate certain psychological and physiological conditions that the soldiers face under inhospitable conditions there, the CAG said.
The report said reasons like sanctioning costly substitutes in lieu of basic items on same cost resulted in reduced quantity of calorie intake of the troops. In order to overcome this issue, the CAG asked the concerned agencies to ensure calorie content is not neglected while providing cost to cost items and called for open tender system for concluding special rations contracts.
