The Public Accounts Committee (PAC), in its 55th report on “Provisioning, procurement and issue of High Altitude Clothing, Equipment, Ration and Housing”, has said that all efforts should be made to fully implement Phase III of the Central Inventory Control Group (CICG) for effective inventory management and procurement.
The report, presented on Wednesday by Lok Sabha Member Satya Pal Singh on behalf of PAC Chairman Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is based on the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) findings in 2019.
The committee observed that a huge quantity of essential items under Special Clothing and Mountaineering Equipment (SCME) Category-II were procured or held when they were not issued or required for long. Noting that CICG, an automated centralised database, had been created to mitigate such issues, it said all measures needed to be taken to fully implement Phase III of the project.
On completion of Phase III, computerisation of all India inventory visibility will be achieved. Phase III is at the grant of Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) stage; its roll-out is expected to commence 16 months after the AoN is accorded and is to be deployed fully in the subsequent 24 months thereafter.
The PAC recommended an overhaul of the contracting process between the Defence Ministry and vendors with built-in contractual responses and contractual liabilities on them; and an outcome-oriented monitoring of expenditure and revenue and capital procurement. This would also aid in reduction of procurement timelines. The procurement processes could be expedited through hand-holding of new Defence Public Sector Undertakings (erstwhile ordnance factories) by the Ministry.
The committee observed that there was extensive shortfall in the receipt of stores from ordnance factories from 2015-16 to 2017-18 in the case of “SCME/Extreme Cold Climate Clothing and Equipment” items. The percentage supply of most items from the factories remained at 50% or less for consecutive years. The PAC noted that, in the meanwhile, the factories had been corporatised and restructured into government companies. They were now participating in procurement through competitive bidding.
With higher delegation of powers and more freedom in decision-making, the new entities might expedite procurement processes, it said.
The committee said the Ministry should collaborate with friendly countries with similar terrain/ geographical conditions and learn from their experiences for technical specifications. It should periodically review and get feedback from troops deployed in high altitude areas in terms of taste, quality and hygienic conditions of rations.
Sufficient technical expertise is available in various Indian institutions, including the Indian Institutes of Technolgy, which could be deployed for projects in harsh terrains. “The Committee have observed that creation of habitats in HAA is a specialist task and varies with terrain, user requirements and altitude factor and maximum efforts are being undertaken to improve habitat and living conditions of troops within available budgetary support and execution capabilities of Indian Army Engineers,” a press release said.
The committee recalled its interaction with troops in the high altitude Drass and Kargil sector, during which troops had been categorical in stating that, at times, medical facilities at forward locations were only minimal. Therefore, it recommended more comprehensive medical facilities for troops at forward locations.
Oil PSUs could construct more underground storage tanks as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. Possibility of other energy sources in forward locations based on solar, wind and other hybrid-based technologies with the help of PSUs under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy could also be explored, the committee said.
The “Ministry may fulfil assurance that there is no shortfall of High Altitude Clothing & Equipment in Indian Army and complete entitlement of soldiers is adequately met at all forward locations of their deployment,” the release said.
