Chiefs of Army, IAF to appear before PAC PTI

• In an unprecedented development, chiefs of the Army and the Air Force will appear before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC)  in connection with alleged irregularities in the Canteen Stores Department supplies.
• This would be the first time that the chiefs of armed forces would appear before the PAC as usually the Defence Secretary attends such meetings of the Parliamentary Committees along with Vice Chiefs of the Services.
• Highlighting the irregularities in the CSD, the CAG had said, “The existing procedure for provisioning of dry rations failed to assess the requirement realistically. The failure was mainly due to systemic deficiencies due to which different quantities were worked out at different echelons applying different parameters...”
• The report had said that the risk of existence of “cartels” affecting the quantity and quality of rations is too serious to be ignored.
• “The Ministry of Defence should set clear targets regarding expansion of vendor base and progress should be closely monitored. The list of vendors should be put on the website of the Army Service Corps,” it had said.