NEW DELHI: Indian Army ditches it’s soldiers deployed at World’s highestbattlefield Siachen.
Soldiers posted on the world’s highest battlefield have been forced to gowithout adequate ration and proper high-altitude clothing, said theComptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in a report tabled in Parliament onMonday.
Pulling up the Army for delays in procurement of snow goggles, multipurposeboots and other high-altitude clothing and equipment (HACE) for the troopsposted in areas such as Ladakh and Siachen, the CAG report said thesoldiers were forced to use old and recycled versions.
Inadequate supply of special ration for the troops affected their calorieintake by as much as 82 per cent, it further said.
The audit findings of provisioning and procurement of from 2015-16 to2017-18 stated, “There were delays in procurement of high altitude clothingand equipment items up to four years leading to acute shortage…There was acritical shortage in snow goggles ranging from 62 per cent to 98 per cent.”
The troops were not issued ‘multi-purpose boots’ from November 2015 toSeptember 2016 and had to resort to the recycling of available boots.
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Further, old versions of items such as face mask, jacket and sleeping bagswere procured which deprived the troops from the benefits of using improvedproducts, the CAG stated.
In the case of specialised ration, there was a major compromise in calorieintake, the auditor said.
The CAG has also questioned the government for the “inordinate delay” inthe establishment of the Indian National Defence University, which wasrecommended by the Kargil review committee in 1999.
