[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Ministry of Defence has no money to pay for the transportation of armed forces officers going for courses, assignments and postings, or for crucial works including perimeter walls around military stations for security against exigencies such as terror attacks.
The Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (PCDA) has said on its website that due to insufficient funds available under temporary duty and permanent duty, no advances and claims can be processed till further receipt of funds, reported The Tribune.
“Due to insufficient funds available under temporary duty and permanent duty heads of Army officers, no TA/DA (travelling allowance), advances and claims can be processed till receipt of sufficient funds under the relevant heads. However, the facility for LTC (leave travel concession) will continue,” said the PCDA (officers), according to a report in The Times of India (TOI).
The PCDA removed the notification from its website by Monday evening after the uproar in the armed forces, TOI reported.
Under the defence ministry, the PCDA is entrusted with pre-audit and payment of pay and allowances and all claims of Army officers.
The shortfalls were temporary and resolved routinely through re-appropriations (from existing budget allocations), The Tribune report said, quoting a defence official.
The notification predictably led to outrage in the Army, which has around 42,000 officers and almost 12 lakh soldiers. With tenures being just two-three years at one station, postings are a frequent reality. Also, during military exercises — conducted every year — a huge body of troops moves. Then another element is the courses conducted to keep the officers updated on military issues.
“It can potentially disrupt the Army’s day-to-day functioning. For instance, over 50% of officers on temporary duty at any given time have been tasked to attend courses, which are less than 180 days in duration, at different places,” an officer told TOI.
The overall transportation and other expenses for all officers, JCOs (junior commissioned officers) and jawans is said to cost around Rs 4,000 crore per year. But PCDA was apparently given only Rs 3,200 crore, which has been exhausted in the run-up to the ongoing fiscal coming to an end on March 31.
“Some more money is being allocated to tide over the immediate crisis. But more will be required to meet all the requirements till the fiscal ends,” said an official.
A MoD official, in turn, said, “At times the funds allotted, based on envisaged expenditure, to a specific head falls short of the actual expenditure. The shortfalls are only temporary and are resolved routinely through reappropriations. Adequate funds are provided under all heads, including temporary and permanent duty heads.”
Another serious aspect of the issue is that in October last year, several infrastructure projects of the armed forces had been stalled or are moving at a slow pace due to “fund crunch”.
The then Engineer-in-Chief branch in the Military Engineering Services (MES) accepted “fund crunch” and issued instructions that at all ongoing works where payments were held up due to “fund crunch”, the work shall be put under “suspension”.
The work on perimeter walls around military stations in northern India (for security to prevent terror attacks) has been stopped, while making additional ammunition storage dumps or IAF works like hangars and runways have been held up or are moving slowly for want of funds.
The budget for infrastructure works this year is Rs 2,300 crore, of which Rs 1,850 crore had been spent by October. Some of the outstanding payment due for projects has rolled over from the previous year that ended on March 31.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]