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Soldiers may have to buy their uniforms as Army needs limited budget to buy ammunition

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Soldiers may have to buy their uniforms as Army needs limited budget to buy ammunition

Claims of a booming, fastest growing economy have come up against yet another hard reality: the government does not have enough money to spare for critical needs of defence forces.

According to a report in the Economic Times (ET), the Indian Army has decided to drastically cut down its supplies from state-owned ordnance factories from 94% to 50% and spend the money saved to replenish the depleting stocks of critical ammunition and spares for a short intense war which the public sector unit has failed to provide.

The reason cited was that the Centre has not provided additional funds for these. The cut in orders for procurements from Ordnance factories is likely to hit supplies of clothing (combat dress, berets, belts, shoes) to soldiers who will have to spend their own money to buy these items from civilian markets, said the ET report. Even spares for certain vehicles will suffer, said the report.

The Army is working on three major projects to build this stock and requires funds worth thousands of crores, but since the Centre has not been forthcoming with the money, the Army has been forced to dig into its own minimal budget to cater to these requirements, said the ET report quoting unnamed officials.

Of the three projects, only one has begun and that payment for the emergency procurement for this project has been distributed over the years due to shortage of funds, the report said.

Another official explained that about Rs 5,000 crore has been spent on emergency procurement and another Rs 6,739.83 crore needs to be paid.

This project with the 10(I) order now costs about Rs 21,739.83 crore. The 10 (I) is ammunition and spares needed for 10 days of intense war.

For remaining payment of the two projects, the Army is trying to figure out how to fund them as the Centre has asked it to spend from its own budget.

The official said in March, the Army had made an initial cut in supplies from ordnance factories. “In March, the ordnance factories’ allocation for supplying items such as clothing, spares and certain ammunition was brought down to about Rs 11,000 crore,” ET quoted the official as saying.

Now, said the official, the army has decided to bring down purchases bought from ordnance factories from 94% of their products to 50%, so “from Rs 11,000 crore given to the ordnance factories it was brought down to around Rs 8,000 crore”. The officials added that the deficiency in ammunition and spares is because the ordnance factories have not been able to completely meet the requirements.

He added that the move would save about Rs 3,500 crore every year. “We will add another Rs 4,000 crore, bringing the total amount to Rs 7,000-8,000 crore a year. For three years, we should have close to Rs 24,000 crore, which will be used for the emergency procurement and the order for 10 (I),” said the official.

Providing a bit of background, the ET report said that following the 2016 Uri terrorist attack, the Army found that 46 types of critical ammunition, including for the artillery, tanks such as Armour Piercing Fin-Stabilised Discarding Sabot, anti-material, and 10 types of spares for vehicles and equipment were below 10 (I).

Recently ordnance factories had protested against the move. A few days ago, a top Army officer had met a senior defence ministry official and convinced him of the reason behind the move. The move, however, could create a problem for the government, as ordnance factories and several MSMEs could go into litigation as they have several past orders from the Army.

The Centre has also identified eight types of ammunition for manufacture by Indian private firms for Rs 1,700 crore per year for the next 10 years. This ammunition includes 30mm used by the infantry, 120mm extended range, 23mm and 40mm grenades.

The Army is also procuring Pinaka rockets over 10 years, which is worth Rs 1000 crore a year. “With these steps we should have 90% per of ammunition for 10 (I) by June 2019. Even at this juncture we are relatively fine, because all types of ammunition will not be used during war. But the government has to provide budgetary support. So far it has not and the Army has been forced to use its own budget at the cost of modernisation and maintenance,” said an official.

2024 Lok Sabha Elections

Lok Sabha election 2024: PM Modi to hold roadshow in Ayodhya

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will offer prayers and hold a roadshow in Ayodhya,

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The 2024 Lok Sabha Elections are now in progress across the country, with the first two stages having concluded on April 19 and 26. An important step in the electoral process is coming up on May 7, which is the date of the third phase. As the peak of campaigning approaches, political parties are stepping up their efforts to win over voters. Today, as part of election campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is will travel to Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, where he will lead a roadshow and offer prayers at the Ram Temple.

On May 7, elections will be held for 94 Lok Sabha seats spread across 12 states and Union Territories.

The INDIA bloc and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA are the two main political groups that will compete in the 2024 Lok Sabha Election. The NDA has the BJP, the PMK, the JDU, and other political parties as members, whereas the INDIA bloc is made up of political parties like the Congress, the AAP, the TMC, etc.

Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi has been the subject of a complaint about his nomination from the Raebareli constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Regarding Rahul Gandhi’s nationality, his recent defamation conviction, and how the Election Commission may accept his nomination, the complaint raises some red flags.

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2024 Lok Sabha Elections

Former Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely joins BJP

Arvinder Singh Lovely said they have been given an opportunity to fight for the people of Delhi under the banner of BJP and under the leadership of the Prime Minister.

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Days after resigning from the post of the Delhi Congress president in protest against the party’s alliance with INDIA bloc partner AAP and over selection of party candidates, Arvinder Singh Lovely joined BJP on Saturday. Lovely joined BJP in the presence of Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva and the BJP’s national general secretary Vinod Tawde.

He, along with 4 former Congress leaders, joined the BJP in the presence of Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri. The 4 others who joined the party include former Congress MLAs who had recently left the party — Neeraj Basoya, Rajkumar Chauhan, Delhi youth Congress chief Amit Malik and Naseeb Singh.

Speaking to the media after joining the BJP, Arvinder Singh Lovely said, they have been given an opportunity to fight for the people of Delhi under the banner of BJP and under the leadership of the Prime Minister. He had full hope, and there is no doubt about it, that the BJP government is being formed in the country with an overwhelming majority. Lovely added that in the coming days, the flag of the BJP will fly in Delhi too.

Lovely’s resignation on April 28 was a setback to Delhi Congress in terms of optics and perception. Coming 4 days after former Delhi minister Rajkumar Chauhan quit the party, the resignation of Lovely, who has been heading the Delhi unit since August last year, has been a blow to the Congress’s preparations for the May 25 elections in Delhi.

After the announcement of the resignation, AAP minister Saurabh Bharadwaj took to his X handle to allude to the links between Lovely and BJP. It is the 2nd time that Arvinder Singh Lovely has stepped down as the Delhi Congress president. Lovely’s resignation came a day after more than a 1000 members of the Sikh community, including office-bearers of the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee, joined the BJP in the presence of its national president J P Nadda.

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2024 Lok Sabha Elections

Priyanka Gandhi calls PM Modi a shahenshah who lives in castles and can never understand the plight of the common man

Priyanka Gandhi said on the other side is the shehanshah, Narendra Modi, who lives in a palace. She asked the people if they have watched him on television?  She said not a single speck of dust is visible on his face. She asked how can PM Modi understand their problems?

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Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for calling her brother and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi a shehzaada. She was speaking at an election rally in Gujarat on Saturday where she called PM Modi a shehanshah.

She said BJP calls her brother Shehzada. She wanted to tell BJP how this shehzada walked 4,000 km from Kanyakumari to Kashmir to listen to people’s problems. The Congress leader added that Rahul Gandhi met  sisters, brothers, farmers and labourers and asked them what problems they were having. Priyanka Gandhi was speaking at a rally in Banaskantha in Gujarat.

Priyanka Gandhi said on the other side is the shehanshah, Narendra Modi, who lives in a palace. She asked the people if they have watched him on television?  She said not a single speck of dust is visible on his face. She asked how can PM Modi understand their problems?

Priyanka Gandhi attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he repeatedly called Rahul Gandhi a shehzada of shahi parivar. He was addressing a rally in Gujarat on Thursday where PM Modi had targeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and said Pakistan is eager to make the shehzada of the grand old party India’s next Prime Minister as the country’s enemies want a weak government at the centre.

Priyanka Gandhi further attacked PM Modi and said Gujarat gave PM Modi respect and self-respect and gave him power, but he is seen only with big people. She asked if anyone had seen PM Modi meeting a farmer?

 She further pointed out that farmers are protesting against the black laws. She said hundreds of farmers are martyred, but the Prime Minister does not even bother to go and meet them. She said just before the elections come and they feel that they will not get votes, then PM Modi changes the law.

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