J Gopikrishnan.
Ignoring the directions of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the Ministry of Defence has allotted Rs210 crore to Unit Run Canteens (URCs) of the Armed forces despite their non-submission of utilisation certificates for an amount totaling nearly ‘900 crore over the past nine years.
The dole of Rs210 crore is known as Quantitative Discount, which is the money transferred by the Government to the forces for the items sold through the URCs at discounted rates to the personnel.
The Army, Navy and Air Force have vehemently objected to the CAG audit of their canteen network across the country and have not yet provided the mandatory utilisation certificate for Rs884 crores — the money transferred by Defence Ministry as Quantitative Discount during the last nine years.
Approving the CAG’s findings and observations on the gross irregularities in the financial administration in the canteens — there are 4500 of them across the country — the PAC had directed the Defence Ministry to not to allot any amount till the utilisation certificate was provided.
According to General Financial Rules 2005, any disbursement of above Rs1 crore should be provided after receipt of utilisation certificate.
Despite the PAC direction in December 2011, Shankar Aggarwal, Additional Secretary in the Defence Ministry approved the allotment of Rs210 crore for the URCs as Quantitative Discount.
According to sources, the Ministry was forced to allot the fund under the pressure of the forces, which have yet to submit Action Taken Report to PAC.
For the past three years, the CAG and three Service chiefs have locked horns on auditing of the canteens. The auditors were barred from auditing the accounts of the 4,500 URCs and allowed to audit only Canteen Stores Department (CSD). The three forces contended that the administration of URC was a “privately held affair by each unit and nothing to do with public money”.
Referring to the huge funding provided by the Defence Ministry for Quantitative Discount, the CAG said that the operation of the URCs were indeed a Government affair.
Last year, PAC chairman Murli Manohar Joshi summoned the three Service chiefs and directed them to allow the CAG officials to audit the canteens. In the PAC meeting, the three forces said their canteens accounts were audited by private chartered accountants and there was no need for a separate CAG auditing. This was shot down by the Parliamentary Panel.
-via The Pioneer
I am not agreed with Mr Haridas. This is the first time when CAG is working perfectly and opening the eyes of the people of the Nation. The reason behind the denial to the access to CAG to audit the accounts of URCs is only siphoning off the major chunk of the profit earned by the Unit Run CAnteens. This is fact that the officers of the three services are not adhering the orders of the Ministry of Defence as well as violating the order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India and insulting of the constitution of India. In this regards I would like to place the following rulings, which have been given by various constitutional authorities which are not followed by the services.
(a) Committee on Subordinate Legislature’s 87th Report had categorically mentioned that URC employees must be treated like any other Government employees and accordingly requested MOD to frame the governing rules for URC employees.
(b) Hon’ble Supreme Court orders/directives in Civil appeal Nos 1039-1040 Union of India Vs. M. Aslam & Ors. (2001) 1 SCC 720 of 1999 has passed a judgment on 04 Jan 2001 to treat the URC employees as Govt. servants and to be governed by the fundamental rules. The same order has been referred and followed by a three Judges bench of Apex Court in UOI & Ors Vs Bheek Singh Rathore & Ors (Civil Appeal No. 5795/2000) Judgment on 05 Feb 2002 and a two Judges bench in Dharmanand & Anr Vs UOI & Ors [Writ Petition (Civil) No. 687/1998] judgment on 29 Apr 2004.
(c) Accordingly the Secretary, Ministry of Defence has formulated the rules and regulations for URC employees and as per the Para 18(a) of Rules Regulating the Terms and Conditions of Civilian Employees of Unit Run Canteens “The status of the employees in the Unit –Run Canteens must be held to be that of a Government Employee” and also directed to the Ministry of Defence that “these employees of the Unit –Run Canteens will draw the minimum of the regular scale of pay available to their counter-parts in the CSDI”.
(d) Recommendations of Public Accounts Committee vide PAC Report No. 48 (2011-12) that the financial parameters Services must be harmonized with financial principles of the Government and the URCs be brought under the unified accountability regime so that they do not escape the unremitting the Parliamentary financial oversight. The committee also recommends that the Government should urgently frame suitable terms and conditions of service and provide reasonable pay scales and promotional avenues for the employees of the URCs (Enclosure-6A).
On the abov after necessary approval of the Defence Minister/Secretary the MOD has requested three Defence service chiefs vide Letter No. MOD ID No. 1225/D (MOV)/2008 dated 02 July 2009 to fix the wages of URC employees at par with Central Govt. servants and requested them to intimate the additional financial burden if any to be met out of CSD trade surplus.
It can be seen from the above that how the three servises are working.
Thanking you,
Bharat Bhushan Khulbe
Secretary General,
All India Defence Civilian Canteen Employees Union
HH/NN
if you can manage the Indian Railways well and could cut down on the cost of indian defence forces… nobody would sleep without food in the night… THE MOST CORRUPT INSTITUTION OF INDIA IS DEFENCE BUT UNFORTUNATELY ITS TREATED AS A SACRED COWS… SAVE OUR JAWANS FROM THE HANDS OF CORRUPT AND DICTATOR OFFICERS…
The most dsciplined organisation in india Defence never try to learn civilized manner from the well educated and constitunal body of the india in which constitution it has been written that the defence been empowered to income some unaudited money at their own decresion to play their thunder motives in success. It has been massaged that despite of giving various orders by defence ministry and other legal institution to go through the rules as per constitutios, the three services turned to a deaf ear and tried to mislead the legal democratic accounts organisation and tried to conviced the business they are running in the name of unit run canteen as non public fund and private venture. If urcs are having no concern with the public fund or government aid and assistance or government ruling then why public officers are been deputed to supervise the canteens, why commissioned officers are been deputed as officer in charge of urc? Why the defence officers are being harrased,washed their brains and mentally disturbed by giving additional job to maintain and supervise ngos like urc. The money earned by air force in the name of PSI Fund, the money received from tendered shops and contractors has the accounts for all of these incomes been suubmitted to CAG. These are all public money, proper audit should be on these earnings by CAG. Crores of collections other than URC income are been done by these services without giving the proper information to concerned minister or to supreme power of accounts and audit. I think more educated civil persons are been employed in this organisation as higher officers. Are they sometimes imagined about the wrong income policy adopting by them through their service.are they feeling about their involvement in scam and scandals. Other than the obligity to IAP 3503 ( the copy of british making rules for to run so called non public fund and tu employ the indian civilians under royal british air force) nothing is known by IAF officers. Indian constitution has been ammended for so many times to develop and to welfare the indian people ,but the IAP 3503 is neither been ammended nor modified nor rewritten. This may happen due to lack of knowledge. Idea or it may be a embazzing policy of total unauthorised earnings. Therefore, a strong CA&G audit is very much required to dig out all malpractises are been done by these services for their own profit in the name of welfare. Misappropriation of public money/revenue by these organisation is a big crime. They are been paid public money to save india,save indians by giving their hot blood. They are been paid not to suck indians,destroy india with cold blood. My request to defence miniter to look though every penny and paise earned by thes services,not to be empowerd to collect this type of money without showing in the annual govt.budget.
The CAG should do its job more seriously. Not only the CAG but the Central & State Excise & Other Sales / Trade Tax & VAT people should be involved in doing so. The centralised teams should be formed for this purpose to see the activities right from the enlisting of goods in CSD List to the Sale to the eligible right people. Ministry of finance /Revenue / Taxation Departments are affected & they have every right to be involved in these operations. There are many instances in which some special facilities are available only in one or two States (Like Punjab) meant for the benefit of Soldiers & Ex-Servicemen of these States only, e.g. Huge Rebates in Cars / other Vehicles & other special items. But the CSD / Other URCs in these States are involed in Illegal sales just to make profits & make money. The items are being sold to people from any State / Other Areas, but they have be bought from Canteens located in these States like Punjab. If the facility is not barred for ex-servicemen of any State / Region in India, then why the facility is not available in other States. After buying the New Vehicles in Punjab they are being Registered in other States which is illegal. While Punjab is losing Crores of Rupees in Transport Revenue, other States are gaining such huge revenues and they welcome it. The CAG should get this Fact Investigated by his Counterpart in the States of Punjab etc. The whole System is a WEB of irreglarities with the involvement of Scamesters. The general public is being befooled by them. All is Hotch Potch.
Not only three services DRDO, CDA, CSD , DGQA and such others who are directly under Ministry of Defence are also running their URCs( selling CSD goods) & URCs( out sourced to civilian contractors , Dealers, bankers, Hoteliers selling NON-CSD goods and services).The CAG, without approval from the three service chiefs, can easily audit the URCs documents of those other URCs to start with provided it is willing.
What they have done so far. Have they written to the govt of the day say Prime minister to get the documents audited? Have they hold that under secretary responsible to defy order of the CAG and take him to task? No they are too busy with that phony 1.76 Lac crore presumptive loss in 2G.
It is the useless CAG which is helping the continuation of such loot and scoot of public money.
I had in fact provided you exact details in this matter but you tend to ignore my input altogether.