CAG Audit Report Exposes OF & Land allotments

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CAG nails Army: Audit report exposes ordnance factory and land allotment scams causing Rs.1277 crore los .

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The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has unearthed irregularities and inefficiencies mainly in the Army's ordnance factories that have cost the national exchequer an estimated Rs.1,277 crore and led to huge gaps in the country's war preparedness.
Apart from this there was a huge loss due to diversion and misuse of prime cantonment land to private builders in cities such as Pune, Kandivili, Panchmarhi and Barrackpore. The CAG has also chastised the Indian Navy and the Air Force for inefficiencies and wastage in several of their projects.

While the armed forces have been pulled up for decision deficiencies resulting in losses, the defence ministry has not been spared either by the CAG "for gross mismanagement of land under its possession."

There is striking similarity with the Adarsh housing society scam in Kandivili where 5,166 sq metres belonging to the Central Ordnance Depot ,which was in possession of the army since 1942, was given to a private company for residential purposes on the basis of an irregular no-objection certificate issued by the Defence Estates Officer, Mumbai.

The CAG has pointed out that unauthorised construction and running of 36 hotels on old grant sites at Panchmarhi was not prevented by the Defence Estates Service.

Similar cases were reported from Barrackpore cantonment where two old grant sites were misused as restaurants and shops despite a shortage of land for military use.

Perhaps a more damaging revelation relates to tank ammunition. Even as the army has been complaining about the shortage of ammunition, the CAG has pointed out that more than 1,00,000 rounds of tank ammunition designed indigenously were declared unserviceable without proper verification.

The value of this wasted ammunition was pegged at Rs.408.06 crore. The wastage was detected by auditors in 2010 in the Southern Command which is headquartered in Pune.
The report noted that out of 3,50,000 rounds of ammunition worth Rs.1,400 crore produced by the Ordnance Factory Board, 1,34,608 rounds were unserviceable.

A major chunk of these - 1,02,014 rounds had not even completed a shelf life of 10 years.

This compelled the defence ministry to import 16,000 rounds of ammunition worth Rs.278.88 crore from Russia earlier this year.

In another instance pointed out by the CAG, the Defence Research and Development Organisation had developed a modular charge system for 105 mm and 130 mm artillery guns.

But by the time the project was completed, the army was not interested in the technology which led to wastage of `13.48 crore that had been spent in developing a modular charge system for field guns.

Poor soil investigationand bad engineering by the Military Engineering Service Engineers led to the construction of sub-standard bunkers meant for the storage of ammunition.

The bunkers were constructed for Rs.7.61 crore and have remained defective even after three years.

The ministry has admitted that some of the structures actually collapsed.

Radar Warning Receivers are used by combat aircraft to warn them that enemy radar has "illuminated" them. The CAG has pointed out a serious deficiency in an Air Force project where it failed to install radar warning receiver systems in most of its fighter aircraft fleet.

The IAF had sought to equip its entire fleet of combat jets with RWRs but the CAG has revealed that the project has come a cropper even after a spending Rs.521 crore.

The IAF ordered 336 RWR systems from Bharat Electronics Limited in 2005. A major chunk of these- 94 per cent- were supplied in 2007, well before the delivery deadline of 2010.

But the CAG noted that till April this year, only 73 out of these 336 systems had been installed. There is also a dispute between the defence ministry and the CAG over performance of these radars.

The IAF had claimed that these RWRs had not performed satisfactorily, but the defence ministry, in its reply, claimed it was a proven and totally reliable system with an exceeding 80 per cent.

The CAG report said it does not agree with the defence ministry's observation as the performance of 69 out of 73 RWRs integrated to date with IAF aircraft were not up to the mark.

The Navy and the Coast Guard have not been spared by the CAG either.

In one instance it has said that operations of Navy submarines were affected because of delays in commissioning of "a crucial system onboard." This led to a loss of Rs.167.64 crore

Ordnance Factory Dehu Road Blast

 

 

 

Four workers injured in Dehu Rd ordnance factory blast

One worker loses right hand; cops to investigate further

 

 

 

 

Posted On Wednesday, December 05, 2012 at 08:59:32 AM

Relatives of the workers at Ruby Hall on Tuesday Four workers were seriously injured in a blast at the Dehu Road Ordnance Factory on Tuesday. The blast took place at the Production Section (Unit 1) inside the factory around 10.40 am. The injured have been identified as B T Sonje (56), a resident of Kalewadi, Harishchandra Padale (52), a resident of Sus Road, Mhalunge, M S Shirsagar (58) a resident of Adarsh Nagar, Diwale and Nandu Ambulkar (55) who live in Akurdi. All of them were later taken to Ruby Hall Clinic. R S Choudhary, a spokesperson at the factory, said, “All the four workers were immediately taken to hospital. Sonje injured his right hand badly, while Shirsagar sustained 5 per cent burns. We have appointed a committee to look into the incident and find out the reason behind the blast.” Dehu Road police also arrived at the factory after the blast to conduct an investigation. The injured workers were in the production section of the factory According to sources at Ruby Hall, Sonje’s right hand had to been amputated and he is now in the Neo Troma Unit Ward whereas rest of the workers are being treated in the general ward, for minor injuries. A similar blast had taken place on November 26 this year at the same factory, in which worker Bunty Shrivastav lost the fingers of his right hand. He was working in Unit 3. Police inspector Ram Jadhav of Dehu Road police station told Mirror, “After our investigation, we found that the four workers who were injured were mixing explosive powder. The blast took place during the mixing. We are now checking for the exact reason behind the blast, which will be revealed in further investigations

Dumping of indiginious INSAS Rifles

NEW DELHI: The Army is getting ready to dump its indigenous INSAS rifles, which have suffered from glitches since their induction in 1994-95, in favour of new-generation assault rifles with interchangeable barrels for conventional warfare and counter-insurgency operations.

The humble foot-soldiers, often forgotten in the race to buy tanks, submarines and fighters, are also slated to get new close-quarter battle (CBQ) carbines, light machine guns (LMGs), specialized sniper rifles and anti-material "bunker-bursting" rifles.

However, Army chief General Bikram Singh has identified the acquisition of the new assault rifles for the 356 infantry battalions and some other "fighting and support arms" in the 1.13-million force as a "Priority-I" project, say sources.

Defence minister AK Antony told Rajya the Sabha on Wednesday that the project to replace the 5.56mm INSAS rifles was underway since "technological development has created more superior rifles over the years".

Sources say five foreign firms — Colt, Beretta, Sig Sauer, Ceska and Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) — are in the running to partner the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) in bagging the huge project that would eventually cost over Rs 10,000 crore.

Under it, initially 65,000 rifles will be bought directly from the selected foreign vendor, for an estimated Rs 4,850 crore, to equip the 120 infantry battalions deployed on the western and eastern fronts.

The OFB will subsequently produce over 113,000 rifles after getting transfer of technology (ToT) from the vendor. The project could become even bigger if the eight-lakh-strong paramilitary forces also induct these rifles.

"Technical evaluation of bids submitted by the five firms is over. The field evaluation trials will begin in early-2013. The plan is to begin inducting the new rifles by mid-2014," said a source.

The new rifles, weighing around 3.5-kg, will come with two barrels, apart from night-vision devices, laser designators, detachable under-barrel grenade launchers and the like.

The primary 5.56x45mm barrel will be for conventional warfare. The secondary 7.62x39mm one will be used for counter-insurgency operations due to "their higher rate of fire".

INSAS (Indian small arms system) rifles, weighing over 4.25-kg and with an effective range of just 450-metre, had replaced the earlier cumbersome 7.62mm self-loading rifles but they too have now become virtually obsolete. The Army had also been forced to import one lakh AK-47s, apart from using the ones seized in encounters, for counter-insurgency operations in J&K and the north-east.

The other procurement project already underway involves an initial purchase of 44,000 CQB carbines for around Rs 3,200 crore, with subsequent production of another 1,20,000 by OFB under ToT. "User trials of Beretta, Colt, Sig Sauer and IWI carbines are over now. The induction should begin by early-2014," said the source.

The process for LMGs and bipod sniper rifles will also kick off soon. The Army wants over 16,000 7.62x51mm LMGs and 3,500 sniper rifles, both with an effective 1-km range, for its infantry battalions to begin with. "The aim is to get light-weight weapons with more lethality and range," added the source.

Jabalpur CAT case

 

Fixation case by NDNGSA at CAT Jabalpur.

The date of hearing of the court case filed at CAT Jabalpur by NDNGSA for fixation of CM with minimum basic of Rs. 6500 X 1.86 and that of JWM from Rs. 7450 X 1.86 w.e.f. 01/01/2006 was 21 Nov 2012. The rejoinder from NDNGSA side on replies submitted by respondents was filed on 21/11/12.

The date for argument was slated on 15/02/2013

7th pay commission's Need

RATIONALE BEHIND DEMAND FOR 7TH CENTRAL PAY COMMISSION

Due to no response from the Central Govt. to the proposal for a fruitful discussion on a 15-point charter of demands which includes revision of wages from January 01, 2011 by setting up of 7th Central Pay Commission(CPC) and Merger of 50% DA with Pay submitted to the Prime Minister   by the  Confederation of Central Government Employees and Workers on July 26, the latter has  warned of a one-day’s all India strike on December 12.

The Confederation’s affiliated federations/unions/associations are organizing a country wide campaign to make the agitation a success. In this context, it is quite relevant to discuss the justification of formation of 7th CPC .

Emphasizing on the idea of “living wages” to the employees, the First Pay Commission was constituted in May, 1946 under the chairmanship of Srinivasa Varadachariar. The commission basically recommended that the lowest rung employee should at least get minimum wages. The Second Pay Commission set up in August ,1957 under the chairmanship of  Shri Jagannath Das  recommended that the pay structure and the working conditions of the government employee should be crafted in a way so as to ensure efficient functioning of the system by recruiting persons with a minimum qualification. Under the chairmanship of Raghubir Dayal, the Third Pay Commission set up in April 1970 gave its report in March 1973 adding three very important concepts of inclusiveness, comprehensibility and adequacy for pay structure and going beyond the idea of minimum subsistence. Constituted in June 1983, the Fourth Pay Commission submitted its report in three phases within four years under the chairmanship of P N Singhal. The Fifth Pay Commission was set up in 1994 under the chairmanship of  Justice S. Ratnavel Pandian recommended  to slash government work force by about 30% and   not to fill about 3,50,000 vacant position in the government departments which could not be implemented due to serious protest by the Confederation.

In July 2006, the Cabinet approved setting up of the Sixth Pay Commission which was set up under the chairmanship of Justice B N Srikrishna which submitted its recommendations to the Govt. on March 23, 2008.  The existing wage structure revised by 6th  CPC and implemented from January 1, 2006 is not only  anomalous but also totally irrational and inadequate. It is anomalous because by giving a system of Pay Band and Grade Pay, it restricted the pay scales to 20 under four Pay Bands ( PB-1, PB-2, PB-3 & PB-4).  There is no scientific determination of fitment benefit.  For one, who is at the minimum or lower stage will get a higher benefit and one who is at the higher stage in the pre-revised pay scale will get lesser benefit. The existing wage structure is also irrational because it is not based upon any principle of wage determination like need based minimum norms or fair comparison with outside rates which is universally applicable in all the other countries of the world. The wage structure given by 6th  CPC has totally smashed the existing relativities. The lowest minimum wage has not been fixed for unskilled worker. It has been fixed at the level of skilled worker, who is a matriculate. Such a wage structure is not acceptable to the people of India because a large number of rural youth who do not acquire the matriculation are languishing in the employment market. The existing relativity between unskilled and skilled worker was 50%. But the recommendations of 6th CPC reduced  it to 20%. General recommendation regarding Pay Band is that it should be 1.86 multiple of the existing pre-revised minimum so that it represents the existing Pay and Allowances as admissible on January 1, 2006. The Central Government  however, has given higher multiple of three times of pre-revised minimum in PB 4 without offering any explanation for this unrelated increase. The demand of the employees that at least 2.625 times of the existing wages may be uniformly provided, if not three times, which has not been accepted by the Government.  The 5th CPC has revised the entire wage structure by applying a common multiple of 3.25. Such a common multiplying factor has not been provided by the 6th CPC. Therefore, it has recommended a wage structure which gives inflated benefit to Group A Officer and very reduced and inadequate benefit to the rest of the employees.

Another important aspect of pay revision is  the merger of DA as Dearness Pay. Way back in 1962, when the 2nd  CPC had not given any formula for DA and the Government had imposed a very retrograde D A formula  by not providing 100% neutralization, the Confederation has raised a demand for indexing of the wages annually as is being done in other countries like Great Britain.  The Gadgil Committee appointed by the Government recommended for the merger of total  D A with Pay for the purposes of pension. The Third CPC, then had recommended that as soon as the Cost of living Index crosses 272 points, the DA then admissible should be merged with pay for the purpose of pension.

Later on, the employees’ organizations further negotiated and obtained merger of DA up to 320 points, not only for the purpose of Pension but also, for the purpose of Pay and Allowances.

The next merger of DA up to 468 points (148% of D A ) was done by Government before appointing the 4th  CPC. Employees Organizations then demanded that the system of merger should be regulated and should happen automatically as and when the DA increased by 50%. The Government  then negotiated a settlement by merging 20% DA and referring the rest of DA merger to the 5th  CPC and conceding all other demands. The 5th  CPC merged 98% DA which was then admissible and recommended that as and when the DA increase of 50% takes place, it should be merged with the Pay. Thus, the Central Govt. employees achieved a well regulated merger of DA with pay as and when it is increased by 50%. But, the 6th CPC has undone this achievement. Therefore,   continuation of the system of merger which has been recommended by the 5th  CPC and accepted by the Government should continue.

The most important reason to demand for appointing 7th CPC effective from January 1, 2011 is that while the wage revision in all the Public Sector Undertakings and in other Sectors usually takes place every 5th year, the same for the Central Govt. employees has been fixed for 10 years which is unconstitutional. The next revision in the Public Sector Undertakings is due from January 1, 2012, the last being with effect from January 1, 2007. Thus, question arises as to why should Central Government employees have to wait for a longer period of 10 years before the next revision becomes due? It is on this consideration that the Confederation of Central Government Employees and Workers has demanded the setting up of 7th  Central Pay Commission immediately to revise the wage structure 

MADRAS CAT ORDER

MADRAS CAT ORDER