Dear Editor
what almost all of us know that armed forces personnel are entitled to CSD facilities. Armed forces personnel by definition are those men/women in uniforms in three services namely the Army , Air Force & Navy.
Eligibility criterion though not in black and white had since been diluted. Civilian central govt employees paid out of Defence Estimates have been allowed to draw CSD stores less liquors from the unit run canteens.
Arm twisting the top brass in the armed forces CONTROLLER OF DEFENCE ACCTS whose employees are paid out of CIVIL ESTIMATES are running 38 URCs ( UNIT RUN CANTEENS) in the govt accommodations for their employees.
Neither the central govt civilian employees (the CDA STAFF) are eligible for CSD facilities NOR controllers of defence accounts authorised to run 38 URCs (unit run canteens). Total sale from those 38 Canteens are huge. Profits from sale of CSD goods to unauthorised personnel is also very very large.
Secondly CDA STAFF/ EST is meant for audit of defence grants and its proper utilisation. By extending the facility to this watchdog has been done surely with a vested interest. Canteen Stores Department ADELPHI Navy Mumbai a solely central govt owned organisation responsible for provision of CSD stores to all the appx 3600 URCs in the three Arms OF THE Military. As a matter of rule URCs unless registered with CANTEEN STORES DEPTT Adelphi, Navy Mumbai cannot receive any CSD goods in its URCs. It is therefore obvious that 38 unauthorised CDA Establishment run URCs have been duly registered though not even eligible for CSD goods. And it obvious such compromise is being exploited by the top brass of three services. Mega scam and scandals in the Defence had therefore been very routine. Huge profits accrued from the sale of CSD goods are then clandestinely distributed amongst the CDA staff proportionate to the salary drawn (thereby giving maximum benefit to the TOP CDA officials). But Who cares!
CSD canteens abused by CDA
Posted in Publishaletter.com By :(Not Verified) haridas mandal
Letter to the Editor Sent to : OUTLOOK
Country: India
Date: APR-29-2010
Subject: CSD CANTEENS ARE MOST ABUSED by CDA
Showing posts with label Audited Accounts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Audited Accounts. Show all posts
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Can Canteen Profits be used for Welfare of Veterans?
Audit finds lapses in defence canteen operations
New Delhi, Aug 13 (IANS) India's audit watchdog has found lapses in financial and business operations and the pricing and quality of goods of the Canteen Stores Department (CSD) that sells household products at cheaper than market rates to armed forces personnel and their families.
The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, tabled in the Lok Sabha Friday, says the 3,600 unit-run canteens (URCs), or retail outlets, of the CSD across the country have been kept out of the "purview of parliamentary financial oversight as they are considered to be regimental institutions".
This despite the fact that these URCs get soft loans and quantitative discounts through the CSD from the Consolidated Fund of India, it says.
"Neither the budget documents nor the proforma accounts of CSD reflect the operations of the (URCs) that are also not subject to the accountability regime for operations funded by the Consolidated Fund of India," the report says.The CAG said it was denied access to the URC records by the Army Headquarters in Delhi "in spite of repeated requests".
The matter was taken up at the level of the defence minister too but to no avail.
In the interest of transparency, the operational results of the units should be disclosed in the proforma accounts of CSD after ensuring that the units follow uniform accounting principles, the CAG has recommended.
This would enable the financial statements of CSD to provide a "true and fair view of the complete operations of the organisation".
Praising the CSD for its 55 percent increase in gross turnover (Rs. 6,955 crore in 2008-09 from Rs. 4,481 crore in 2003-04), the report says the gross and net profit however had not shown commensurate increase during this period.
"This was mainly due to increase in cost of goods purchased for sale as also increase in quantitative discount given to the units."
It says that evidence indicated that grants given to various organisations of the armed forces out of CSD profits did not follow the provisions of General Financial Rules (GFR) of the government.
"Grants were given to organisations without even insisting on application for funds. Statement of accounts was never sought before sanctioning the grants. Receipt of utilisation certificates was not watched, as required under GFR. Utilisation certificates were never insisted from major recipients namely the army, navy or air force for the grants provided."
The proforma accounts prepared by the CSD did not follow the generally accepted regimen of financial reporting, it said.
During the six years from 2002-2003 to 2007-08, Rs. 883.46 crore was transferred in the form of quantitative discount from the Consolidated Fund of India to the URCs.
Evidence also indicated that benefit of quantitative discount (QD) has never been passed to the consumer.
"Such discount could not be viewed as a trade discount as units operated in a captive market with pricing determined in accordance with the existing policies. QD was in fact another way of transferring money from CFI to non-public fund without conforming to the provisions of the GFR," the report says.
Audit finds lapses in defence canteen operations
Related Reading
Forces, CAG lock horns over audit of unit run canteens
Canteen Stores Department (India) Demystified
New Delhi, Aug 13 (IANS) India's audit watchdog has found lapses in financial and business operations and the pricing and quality of goods of the Canteen Stores Department (CSD) that sells household products at cheaper than market rates to armed forces personnel and their families.
The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, tabled in the Lok Sabha Friday, says the 3,600 unit-run canteens (URCs), or retail outlets, of the CSD across the country have been kept out of the "purview of parliamentary financial oversight as they are considered to be regimental institutions".
This despite the fact that these URCs get soft loans and quantitative discounts through the CSD from the Consolidated Fund of India, it says.
"Neither the budget documents nor the proforma accounts of CSD reflect the operations of the (URCs) that are also not subject to the accountability regime for operations funded by the Consolidated Fund of India," the report says.The CAG said it was denied access to the URC records by the Army Headquarters in Delhi "in spite of repeated requests".
The matter was taken up at the level of the defence minister too but to no avail.
In the interest of transparency, the operational results of the units should be disclosed in the proforma accounts of CSD after ensuring that the units follow uniform accounting principles, the CAG has recommended.
This would enable the financial statements of CSD to provide a "true and fair view of the complete operations of the organisation".
Praising the CSD for its 55 percent increase in gross turnover (Rs. 6,955 crore in 2008-09 from Rs. 4,481 crore in 2003-04), the report says the gross and net profit however had not shown commensurate increase during this period.
"This was mainly due to increase in cost of goods purchased for sale as also increase in quantitative discount given to the units."
It says that evidence indicated that grants given to various organisations of the armed forces out of CSD profits did not follow the provisions of General Financial Rules (GFR) of the government.
"Grants were given to organisations without even insisting on application for funds. Statement of accounts was never sought before sanctioning the grants. Receipt of utilisation certificates was not watched, as required under GFR. Utilisation certificates were never insisted from major recipients namely the army, navy or air force for the grants provided."
The proforma accounts prepared by the CSD did not follow the generally accepted regimen of financial reporting, it said.
During the six years from 2002-2003 to 2007-08, Rs. 883.46 crore was transferred in the form of quantitative discount from the Consolidated Fund of India to the URCs.
Evidence also indicated that benefit of quantitative discount (QD) has never been passed to the consumer.
"Such discount could not be viewed as a trade discount as units operated in a captive market with pricing determined in accordance with the existing policies. QD was in fact another way of transferring money from CFI to non-public fund without conforming to the provisions of the GFR," the report says.
Audit finds lapses in defence canteen operations
Related Reading
Forces, CAG lock horns over audit of unit run canteens
Canteen Stores Department (India) Demystified
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
The fear of the Audit
My late eldest brother was an Audit Officer in CAG's Test Audit about which you read in the last para of the article The fear of audit by Brig A N Suryanarayanan (Retd) click here
Even today, the Army fears the annual visit by auditors.!!
CDA once objected to purchase of “snacks” from the Annual Training Grant by College of Combat. The CDA also pointed out carelessness in spelling “snacks” and “snakes”.
In reply the College of Combat said - “ It was not snacks as pointed out by the auditor but correctly spelled as snakes which were purchased for training of commandos”. Audit objection was waived off.
Brig Chander Kamboj (Retd)
Even today, the Army fears the annual visit by auditors.!!
CDA once objected to purchase of “snacks” from the Annual Training Grant by College of Combat. The CDA also pointed out carelessness in spelling “snacks” and “snakes”.
In reply the College of Combat said - “ It was not snacks as pointed out by the auditor but correctly spelled as snakes which were purchased for training of commandos”. Audit objection was waived off.
Brig Chander Kamboj (Retd)
Sunday, September 27, 2009
CAG raps IAF: UPA trying to drill austerity into the Military
NEW DELHI: At a time when the ruling UPA is trying hard to drill home the message of austerity among its ministers, it seems the government may have to work even harder to convince the services to toe the line. In a stark example of the taxpayer's money being splurged on personal travel, it has come the light that the Indian Air Force spent crores converting eight of its topline aircraft AN-32, meant to carry troops and transport arms and ammunition, for VIP travel. While no VIP travelled in the aircraft, these were used by armed service officers, their wives and defence ministry officials.
Shockingly, these aircraft were converted for use by VIPs- meaning the President, PM and Vice-President- despite IAF already having a fleet for this purpose which was underutilized by as much as 63%. In five years between 2002 and 2007, IAF spent Rs 75 crore operating these modified AN-32s, mainly for personal purposes by Other Entitled Persons (OEPs).
These are the findings of the government's official auditor, Comptroller and Auditor General. The Public Accounts Committee, which also looked into the issue and submitted its report to Parliament during the budget session, has asked IAF to immediately restore all the eight AN-32s for operational purposes and not divert any service aircraft for other use, sources said.
In its report, the PAC said it was "surprised" that these aircraft were used by the presidents of wives' associations of the armed forces, who clearly weren't covered under the category of OEPs.
The committee has sought to know how much was spent on the travel of non-entitled persons in these aircraft. It has also recommended a ministerial probe into the matter and sought a report within three months on the steps taken to prevent such misuse in future.
The CAG audit had revealed that of the 104 AN-32 that the forces had, only 50% were fit for operational use. Yet, the top brass had allowed conversion and modification of its frontline aircraft. IAF had purchased 118 AN-32 between 1984 and 1991. Of these, 14 had crashed over the last few years during operations.
More than 50% of the fleet was grounded for lack of operational capability. Still, IAF modified six AN-32 during 2001-03 for `VIP use'. It had earlier modified two aircraft for VIP use between 1992 and 1999. The modification was not only irregular but lacked justification, the CAG report said.
According to rules, these VIP aircraft are to be used by the President, the Prime Minister and the Vice-President. Senior officers of the defence ministry or the services can use them if it is absolutely important. The conversion was considered unjustified given the fact that IAF already had a fleet of more than 14 aircraft and half-a-dozen choppers for this purpose as part of its Communication Squadron meant only for VIP travel.
The Communication Squadron consists of two Boeings, seven Avros, four executive jets and six helicopters. Despite this huge fleet for three persons, the government acquired three Boeing Business jets at a cost of more than Rs 900 crore in 2008. These aircraft were meant to fly the PM and the President to far off locations and to be used for other domestic flights.
It was found during the audit examination that the existing fleet of the Communication Squadron was utilized by a mere 27% between 1999 and 2007.
A senior defence ministry official said, after the rap from the Public Accounts Committee, IAF has given an assurance that all the modified aircraft had been restored back to operational requirements.
Interestingly, in 2001 the then defence minister, George Fernandes, had asked the then defence secretary to constitute a high-level committee with representatives from armed forces to "look at lavish lifestyle and misuse of service aircraft" by IAF officers and their family members. The orders had come after repeated media reports that some of the senior IAF officials' wives had misused service aircraft to fetch lobsters and pastries from far off locations. However, no such committee was ever formed, a senior defence ministry official told TOI.
Planes for VIPs used by IAF officers, wives
Shockingly, these aircraft were converted for use by VIPs- meaning the President, PM and Vice-President- despite IAF already having a fleet for this purpose which was underutilized by as much as 63%. In five years between 2002 and 2007, IAF spent Rs 75 crore operating these modified AN-32s, mainly for personal purposes by Other Entitled Persons (OEPs).
These are the findings of the government's official auditor, Comptroller and Auditor General. The Public Accounts Committee, which also looked into the issue and submitted its report to Parliament during the budget session, has asked IAF to immediately restore all the eight AN-32s for operational purposes and not divert any service aircraft for other use, sources said.
In its report, the PAC said it was "surprised" that these aircraft were used by the presidents of wives' associations of the armed forces, who clearly weren't covered under the category of OEPs.
The committee has sought to know how much was spent on the travel of non-entitled persons in these aircraft. It has also recommended a ministerial probe into the matter and sought a report within three months on the steps taken to prevent such misuse in future.
The CAG audit had revealed that of the 104 AN-32 that the forces had, only 50% were fit for operational use. Yet, the top brass had allowed conversion and modification of its frontline aircraft. IAF had purchased 118 AN-32 between 1984 and 1991. Of these, 14 had crashed over the last few years during operations.
More than 50% of the fleet was grounded for lack of operational capability. Still, IAF modified six AN-32 during 2001-03 for `VIP use'. It had earlier modified two aircraft for VIP use between 1992 and 1999. The modification was not only irregular but lacked justification, the CAG report said.
According to rules, these VIP aircraft are to be used by the President, the Prime Minister and the Vice-President. Senior officers of the defence ministry or the services can use them if it is absolutely important. The conversion was considered unjustified given the fact that IAF already had a fleet of more than 14 aircraft and half-a-dozen choppers for this purpose as part of its Communication Squadron meant only for VIP travel.
The Communication Squadron consists of two Boeings, seven Avros, four executive jets and six helicopters. Despite this huge fleet for three persons, the government acquired three Boeing Business jets at a cost of more than Rs 900 crore in 2008. These aircraft were meant to fly the PM and the President to far off locations and to be used for other domestic flights.
It was found during the audit examination that the existing fleet of the Communication Squadron was utilized by a mere 27% between 1999 and 2007.
A senior defence ministry official said, after the rap from the Public Accounts Committee, IAF has given an assurance that all the modified aircraft had been restored back to operational requirements.
Interestingly, in 2001 the then defence minister, George Fernandes, had asked the then defence secretary to constitute a high-level committee with representatives from armed forces to "look at lavish lifestyle and misuse of service aircraft" by IAF officers and their family members. The orders had come after repeated media reports that some of the senior IAF officials' wives had misused service aircraft to fetch lobsters and pastries from far off locations. However, no such committee was ever formed, a senior defence ministry official told TOI.
Planes for VIPs used by IAF officers, wives
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
India Together
Audience
India Together provides information and news on issues that matter to discerning readers. Stories and articles are categorized over 15 major developmental topics, and also over the states of India. Because of a simple, easy-to-access website and the exclusive focus on the public interest and development, readers go away feeling they’ve been informed by an intense but well designed magazine. Equally, also provide help developmental and policy experts, academicians and scholars and leading journalists take their ideas, research and public interest concerns expeditiously to a broad and interested national and global audience.
Readership
From a few thousand readers per month in 2001, India Together reached an online readership of 10000 visitors in 2002, 25,000 in mid 2004 and was counting around 30000 visitors per month in December 2004. The fortnightly newsletter goes out to over 3500 subscribers as of December 2004, and is growing every day. As of mid 2007 the website was logging approximately 110,000 visitors each month, and readership has grown steadily for the past three years at about 35 percent annually.
Editors
The editors of India Together are ever accessible to authors and readers and interact with them as partners with timeliness and professionalism. Every item on the website is categorized so that specialist readers can access information in their favourite issue pages, while general readers can access the latest from the front pages and regional pages.
Goal
It is continuing goal to ensure that India Together will inform on development and policy issues with expertise, public interest focus, content packaging, and non- profit operational transparency of the highest standards.
Subramaniam Vincent co founder says:
Hello and welcome. I am a co-founder of India Together and one of the lead editors of this publication. I believe that an original purpose of journalism is to cover society in proportion to its many realities and provide information to citizens so that they may be free and self-governing.
Aswin Mahesh co founder says:
Hello and welcome to my homepage. I am a co-founder of India Together and one of its lead editors. I am interested in the potential of information and communication, coupled with technology and management, to promote the public good in India. Most of my writing on these pages is in the form of editorials I have written with my friend and fellow lead editor, Subramaniam Vincent.
Reader funded
India Together is a public interest reader financed online magazine published by Civil Society Information Exchange Private Ltd, Bangalore. Because the maximisation of revenue in itself is not an objective, it is envisaged to use revenues to increase our coverage of public interest issues, and to broaden the range of ways in which content is packaged for the audience.
Independence
While it is possible to fund much of the work through either a required subscription fee or from commercial advertising revenues, reader funding helps keep the editorial independence, and allows editors the luxury of not having to run non serious content (such as entertainment or sport) that would dilute the focus on important issues.
Visit: India Together
Comments
Accounts
An excellent website, but what caught my attention is the display of its yearly financial accounts. This is really unique and a trendsetter for others to emulate. The Armed Forces has so many Welfare organisations in public domain and functioning under The Societies Registration Act 1860 (non profit organistions). Seldom we get to know either the financial accounts (sources of income and expenditure) or the beneficiaries. It should be made mandatory under the RTI Act to have accounts of all welfare organisations Registered under the Society Act 1860 to be transparent and display the yearly finanicial income, sources and expenditure.
India Together provides information and news on issues that matter to discerning readers. Stories and articles are categorized over 15 major developmental topics, and also over the states of India. Because of a simple, easy-to-access website and the exclusive focus on the public interest and development, readers go away feeling they’ve been informed by an intense but well designed magazine. Equally, also provide help developmental and policy experts, academicians and scholars and leading journalists take their ideas, research and public interest concerns expeditiously to a broad and interested national and global audience.
Readership
From a few thousand readers per month in 2001, India Together reached an online readership of 10000 visitors in 2002, 25,000 in mid 2004 and was counting around 30000 visitors per month in December 2004. The fortnightly newsletter goes out to over 3500 subscribers as of December 2004, and is growing every day. As of mid 2007 the website was logging approximately 110,000 visitors each month, and readership has grown steadily for the past three years at about 35 percent annually.
Editors
The editors of India Together are ever accessible to authors and readers and interact with them as partners with timeliness and professionalism. Every item on the website is categorized so that specialist readers can access information in their favourite issue pages, while general readers can access the latest from the front pages and regional pages.
Goal
It is continuing goal to ensure that India Together will inform on development and policy issues with expertise, public interest focus, content packaging, and non- profit operational transparency of the highest standards.
Subramaniam Vincent co founder says:
Hello and welcome. I am a co-founder of India Together and one of the lead editors of this publication. I believe that an original purpose of journalism is to cover society in proportion to its many realities and provide information to citizens so that they may be free and self-governing.
Aswin Mahesh co founder says:
Hello and welcome to my homepage. I am a co-founder of India Together and one of its lead editors. I am interested in the potential of information and communication, coupled with technology and management, to promote the public good in India. Most of my writing on these pages is in the form of editorials I have written with my friend and fellow lead editor, Subramaniam Vincent.
Reader funded
India Together is a public interest reader financed online magazine published by Civil Society Information Exchange Private Ltd, Bangalore. Because the maximisation of revenue in itself is not an objective, it is envisaged to use revenues to increase our coverage of public interest issues, and to broaden the range of ways in which content is packaged for the audience.
Independence
While it is possible to fund much of the work through either a required subscription fee or from commercial advertising revenues, reader funding helps keep the editorial independence, and allows editors the luxury of not having to run non serious content (such as entertainment or sport) that would dilute the focus on important issues.
Visit: India Together
Comments
Accounts
An excellent website, but what caught my attention is the display of its yearly financial accounts. This is really unique and a trendsetter for others to emulate. The Armed Forces has so many Welfare organisations in public domain and functioning under The Societies Registration Act 1860 (non profit organistions). Seldom we get to know either the financial accounts (sources of income and expenditure) or the beneficiaries. It should be made mandatory under the RTI Act to have accounts of all welfare organisations Registered under the Society Act 1860 to be transparent and display the yearly finanicial income, sources and expenditure.
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