The Public Accounts Committee headed by Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is going on a four-day tour of Srinagar, Kargil, Leh and Drass on August 14.
The committee visit is in connection with a 2019 report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on “high altitude clothing, equipment, ration and housing” for the Indian Army. The committee will be spending Independence Day at Kargil.
The CAG report had pointed out delays in the procurement of high altitude clothing and equipment items of up to four years leading to acute shortage of essential clothing and equipment items. It further noted that there was a critical shortage of snow goggles ranging from 62% to 98%. “The troops were not issued ‘multi-purpose boots’ from November 2015 to September 2016 and had to resort to recycling of available boots,” the report said.
Further, it said that old versions of items such as face masks, jackets and sleeping bags had been procured, which had deprived troops of the benefits of using improved products. Lack of research and development by the defence laboratories had led to continued dependence on imports, the report said.
