Massive shortage of winter clothing and gear for soldiers posted in Siachen, Ladakh, Doklam, says CAG

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India on Monday said that there is a massive shortage and inadequate reserves of specialised winter clothing, snow goggles, multi-purpose boots and several other equipment for Army troops posted in high-altitude areas like Siachen, Ladakh and Doklam. It also said that soldiers are not getting proper rations sanctioned for the requisite calorific intake.

Ministry of Defence informed CAG that the shortage in the clothing and equipment at high altitude were in Army headquarters reserves. The deficiency doesn’t exist at the level of soldiers deployed in the field, said the Ministry

According to a report in The Times of India, An Army officer said, “The CAG audit covers the period from 2015-16 to 2017-18. Things have improved since then. By and large, there is no dearth of clothing and equipment for soldiers deployed in areas like Siachen, where posts are located at heights ranging from 16,000 to 22,000-feet.”

Taking around Rs 1 lakh to clothe a single soldier for the forbidding Siachen heights, the Army is also trying to “upgrade as well as indigenise” specialised extreme winter clothing and gear, the bulk of which is imported as of now, said the officer.

The report tabled in Parliament, stated that there are 24% to 100% deficiencies in the authorised holdings for different items in the Army headquarters reserves. It raises concern as it should always be maintained for any exigency.

For instance, soldiers had to make do with recycled multi-purpose boots, which protect feet at temperatures up to minus 55 degree Celsius, because they were not available from November 2015 to September 2016.

Likewise, the stock level of all-terrain goggles was “critically low”, ranging from just 5.6% to 16.1% against the authorised levels.

In case of ration, CAG said special scales of ration are authorised for the soldiers to meet their daily energy requirements. “But sanctioning costly substitutes in lieu of basic items on same cost resulted in reduced quantity of calorie intake, ranging between 48% to 82.75%, of the troops. Provision of rations at reduced scales with lesser calorific value would have impact on the health and fitness of troops posted at high-altitude areas” it said.

Asking Ministry of Defence to take stringent action against those responsible for lapses, the CAG said, “Delayed procurements and delayed receipt of contracted items led to an acute shortage of essential clothing and equipment and timely issue of the same to troops. Sub-standard items like face-masks, jackets and sleeping bags were procured of old specifications, which deprived the troops from the benefits of using improved products.”