Soldiers ate expiry dated food- Sliding Standards of ASC

Two soldiers preparing their food.
The Comptroller and Auditor general (CAG) has exposed a rampant scam in the rationing management of the Indian Army. According to CAG, soldiers consume rice, atta, tea, sugar, dal, oil etc 6 to 28 months after the expiry date of ESL (Estimated Storage Life). The main villains behind the scams are Army Service Corps and Army Purchase Organisation, reported CAG officials. They also suggested that the Army HQ and Ministry of Defence need to act together to supply good quality rations to the soldiers.
Big scam in Indian Army- soldiers ate expiry dated food!

Rakhsa Mantri's response
A week after government auditors exposed Army supplying stale food to jawans, Union Defence Minister A K Antony on Saturday gave an assurance that efforts were in progress to improve quality of rations given to them.

In his message to the armed forces personnel on the eve of 64th Independence Day broadcast over radio, Antony said necessary provisions had also been made for supplying special rations for jawans deployed in counter-insurgency operations and high-altitude areas.

"The government has taken several welfare measures for the defence personnel. We are making efforts to improve the quality of atta, rice, vegetables, tea, pulses and other items. Similarly, we have made a provision for special rations to troops deployed in counter-insurgency operations. Special rations have also been authorised for additional troops serving in high-altitude areas above 12,000 feet," he said in his address.

The Comptroller and Auditor General had in its report last week slammed the defence ministry for supplying rotting food items that were unfit for human consumption to jawans, particularly those in Jammu and Kashmir and North East.
After CAG rap, Antony promises quality rations to jawans- August 14, 2010 20:56 IST

Citizens Voice
It is his duty.
by skumar rudr on Aug 15, 2010 03:48 PM
Dear Anthony sir,
Let us remind you that it is your duty as a minister to provide good quality food. You sound as if you are making a favour by promising quality rations. I think the same ration which was supplied to the armed forces should be provided to your and your corrupt ministers. Mr Prime minister, it is a shame on your government that several scandals like Telecom, Common wealth games etc have emerged and you congratulate yourself for being the third longest serving prime minister.

National Highway Authority move may affect ex-servicemen

NHAI move may affect ex-servicemen
NEW DELHI, June 25, 2010 The Hindu
K. Balchand
The decision of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to hand over all the toll plazas on major highways to private contractors threatens to render about 35000 ex-servicemen, who earn a living by running them, jobless. The ex-servicemen have taken objection to the notification issued by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Monday deciding to invite tenders for the toll plazas which are currently being operated by retired army personnel who have been employed through Director General of Rehabilitations, Government of India.

A delegation of ex-servicemen led by Col (Retd) H.S.Yadav and Col (Retd) Chaudhary complained to Defence Minister A.K.Antony about the injustice meted out to them by the MORTH (Ministry of Road Transport and Highways). They pointed out that the action violates the commitment the Congress party contained in its manifesto of 2004 and 2009 to rehabilitate ex-army personnel on their retirement.

The ex-servicemen said that Mr. Antony promised to take up the matter with Minister of Roads Transport and Highways Kamal Nath.

They charged that this action would render 25000 ex-servicemen and about 10000 others who are indirectly employed in various logistics for running these toll plazas, jobless.

These retired army personnel claimed that revenue has increased at the toll plazas from 15 per cent to 85 per cent. Besides, their presence helped road users in several ways.
NHAI move may affect ex-servicemen
Can ESM fight the all powerful corrupt NHAI and MORTH Bureaucrats? Read more:
CBI arrests top NHAI officials, gets custody till May 31
Former Supreme Court Judge fails to fight the Indian Corruption Inc and resigns in disgust
Lokayukta resignation shocks Yeddyurappa government

Management is building Human Relationships

THE “PHOOK” THEORY
The literal meaning of the Punjabi word, ‘phook’ is air pressure. Metaphorically, it is used to describe an ego-state. Thus, if someone is hogging a lot of ‘phook’, he is ‘gassed’ or brash.

The year, 1988. Location: No 3 Base Repair Depot (BRD),IAF, Chandigarh
The little man who sat as the Air Officer Commanding (AOC) of the BRD was my brother. Our father found him bone lazy, incapable doing any strenuous work. But I suspect he was clever. The Air Force chose to overlook his sloth and let him rise. Now, having completed his course at the National Defense College, it was clear that he was going places. I had gone to the BRD to learn the rudiments of command.

As I entered, the two officers who were sitting in the office took leave of him. He sat there, completely relaxed. There was no paper in the two trays marked “IN” and: OUT” The customary “Pending” bin was conspicuous by its absence. The walls of the large office were bare. No bar charts, no performance curves. On the table, there was a small hand written paper, which my brother permitted me to see. It said, “I hate work. Even if some one else does it”.

It was clear as crystal that my dear brother had not changed. I asked him how he managed such a large outfit. And he said, “Come, I will show you” And we set off for a ‘darshan’ of the unit. Wherever we went, people rushed to greet him. He had a word or two to say to every one. In most cases, he let his officers speak. He would then say just a sentence or two, and then move on. But I noticed that his tone was different each time. At one workstation, we saw a tall officer, who had a lot of charts and diagrams, and he gave us a detailed account of his achievements. The curve showed that the output of his shop had tripled since he took over. He was keen to give a lecture to the other officers of the BRD on the management techniques he had employed to achieve those results. My brother gave a cold look to him and said, “Yes. You can do that. But first you must improve the quality of your stuff. That gyro-stabilizer which failed in the flight test last month was overhauled here. Right? If the pilot was not alert, you would have his blood on your hands!”
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Maj Gen Surjit Singh (Retd)

Army called in to Manage Load Dispatches to Petrol Pumps

Oil PSUs & Truck Strike :9Jan09 - Part1


Army was called in to manage loading and dispatches to petrol pumps as the Government ordered arrests and dismissals of officers keeping off work. The move cracked the Oil Sector Officers Association, with Bharat Petroleum, the second largest retailer, walking out of the agitation instantly.

Oil PSU execs call off strike following Govt's tough stance

Truckers' strike: States cooperation must, says Chidambaram
Press Trust of India / New Delhi January 09, 2009, 17:30 IST
The Centre today said it is in talks with states to resolve the five-day-old truckers' strike, which along with the PSU oil officers' stir, has affected movement of goods across the country. "The road transport secretary has said we are talking to the states. We will have to take the states with us," Home Minister P Chidambaram told reporters after a meeting of the Cabinet, which reviewed the situation arising out of the strike.

He said the Centre needs to take consent of states since most of the issues raised by the truckers relate to them. The truckers have been demanding putting diesel in the declared goods category, leading to a cut in fuel price, unrestricted import of tyres, a single national permit and reduction in toll taxes, among others. "The issue of service tax exemption has been resolved. The other issue of increase in toll is factually incorrect," he said.

"All other demands pertain to the states. Yet, the truckers go on strike that is against the interest of the people and therefore, steps are being taken by the Ministry of Surface Transport to deal with the matter," Chidambaram added.
Truckers' strike: States cooperation must, says Chidambaram

Comment: One billion citizens held to ransom. The reasons outlined by the media for the strike seems so frivolous compared to the sufferings inflicted on the poor and needy. Shortages and Spiralling prices have hit the common man. Are Politicians and Bureaucrats responsible for governance? The Armed Forces are used like ping pongs to shore up the corrupt bureaucrats who take no responsiblity at any hour of National Crisis. Not a single bureaucrat held responsible for the lost lives or sufferings of the millions of citizens.

Oil PSU Officers and Truckers dual strike immobilise citizens

Oil crisis worsens as pumps go dry; govt warns of action
NDTV Correspondent
Friday, January 09, 2009, (New Delhi)

Petrol pumps in many parts of the country went dry and more are expected to run out of stock by Friday as the indefinite strike by oil PSU officers entered the second day today. This provoked the government to ask company managements to sack close to 70 executives leading the stir. There are 32,000 fuel pumps in India out of which about 50% are out of stock.

In Delhi, half the pumps have run out of fuel.

In Mumbai too, more than 100 of the 250 pumps are dry.

The situation is little better in Kolkata with 30% pumps out of stock so far.

In Chennai, it's as bad as Delhi with half the city's pumps going dry.

With jet fuel supply also hit, flights have been delayed. In Mumbai, over 70 flights were running behind schedule. The strike also had an impact on oil and gas production with four key refineries now running below capacity and their output is down by 30%. Mumbai went without gas after officers in ONGC stopped natural gas production off Mumbai shore. Delhi may also see a CNG crisis tomorrow.
Oil crisis worsens as pumps go dry; govt warns of action
Commodity prices may go up on transport strike

Red tape halts roads along China

New Delhi, November 12
An ambitious project to build 73 more roads for strategic purposes all along the border with China has got entwined in red tape. This despite the fact that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself had announced a major ramp up of infrastructure.

All these roads were planned in the past two years as part of India’s strategic needs projected by the security agencies. These were to connect remote lying areas in India along the Chinese border and aid faster movement of men and material in case of any emergency. The move had come after the Chinese surprised India by building a vast road and rail network in Tibet and in areas very close to the border between the two countries.

For the 73 roads, the mandatory clearance from the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) is awaited. The ministry of defence was startled after it came to know that the construction of roads had been held up as the mandatory clearances were still awaited.

The MoD has now “reminded” the MoEF to speed up the matter in view of the national interest involved in these projects. The target was to progressively complete all the roads by 2012 but the progress was slow, sources said.

The matter had come up for discussion in the last conference of the commanders of the armed forces in Delhi a few days ago.

On its part the MoEF may be concerned about the geological stability of the mountains or the threat to fragile eco-systems and a depleting forest cover. The Himalayas on the Indian side are also prone to landslides. However, the sources said in most cases kutcha traditional routes exist and it was just a matter of widening them, building bridges over culverts and paving the road to make it motorable.

These pending road projects are in all states that border China like Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. In other case new alignments are also being carved out.

In India, except the roads, the work on other projects like upgrading airfields in the northeast or opening old disused airstrips in Ladakh are going on as per plan.

Out of the 70 roads being built by the government, 20 are in the Arunachal Pradesh area. The road density in Sikkim is only 28.45 km per 100 sq km against the national average of 84 km. Arunachal Pradesh is even worse off, with a road density of just 18.65 km per 100 sq km.

On the other hand, almost no rail link exists even as India is now conducting a survey to link areas like Leh with trains. On the Chinese side, the project for new rail lines will bring Chinese trains up to border with Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, two Indian states that figure prominently on the radar of the Sino-Indian disputes.

The Indian security agencies opine that road and rail projects in China are completed quickly and often ahead of time while in India these face one hurdle after the other.

Sources said the speed of Chinese construction was startling. Citing a few cases, they said infrastructure was right next to the Line of Actual Control.
Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service
Red tape halts roads along China

India China Conflict 1962

OP LEGHORN: A Planners Nightmare

Driving and road conditions
The nearest Road head and administrative base was at Tawang, 100 Kms away from the location of our forward troops. Only a one-ton one way fair weather road connected Tawang from the foothills. This road followed a circuitous path with steep gradients requiring great skill on the part of the drivers and the vehicles to be in first class mechanical condition. Even the slightest miscalculation on part of the driver while negotiating bends could land the vehicle in the ravines often three to four thousand feet deep. Quite often there were delays due to the road being cut off by avalanches and extensive damage caused during the monsoons.

Stocking and maintenance
Further stocking and maintenance beyond Tawang was carried out by animal transport and porters.7 Infantry Brigade had been allotted only two Animal Transport (AT) Companies which were inadequate. At places, even the mules were found to be of little use due to the weak log bridges, which could not take the weight of laden animals. Besides, the maintenance of the AT companies itself further added to the problems. The shortage of ponies and porters was so great that units were moved without their full complement of even first line ammunition, thus severely restricting the availability of fire power to the troops.

Air Maintenance
Our troops had, therefore, to depend largely on air maintenance. It was estimated that the total requirement of airlift for both 2 and 4 Infantry Divisions was 260 Tons daily where as the airlift available amounted to not more than 80 Tons daily due to non availability of aircraft. There was also an acute shortage of supply dropping equipment, which was required to be salvaged and returned. Even the quality of supply dropping equipment was poor. In one case, vitally needed guns airdropped at Tsangdhar were damaged beyond repair when the parachutes failed to open.

Improvised Dropping Zones
For the maintenance of the troops at Dhola area, two improvised dropping zones were commissioned at Tsangdhar and Lumpu. Both these dropping zones were above 4500M with inadequate flat space. Approaches to these were hazardous and the pilots had to be careful not to over fly, as otherwise they would be above Chinese posts. With these constraints, the air supply proved to be extremely costly and ineffective. Quite often the supplies fell into inaccessible ravines and were irretrievable Supply of stores from the dropping zones to the forward troops involved a number of days turnaround. In the case of Lumpu, It meant going along the Namka Chu with a turn round of seven days.

(Extract from History of the Army Service Corps)
Brig Lakshman Singh, VSM (Retd)

Chinese troops launch a massive attack on Indian positions in NEFA on 20 Oct 1962. Over the next 31 days, the numerically superior People's Liberation Army overruns poorly equipped Indian troops. The Chinese almost reach the plains of Assam before declaring a unilateral ceasefire. Over 2400 Indian officers and soldiers died in the conflict. The plain fact is: a psychologically ill prepared and physically unacclimatized Indian Army was thoroughly defeated by the Chinese. So what has changed in the 45 years since then?
1962 war zone, revisited