New Delhi: The defence ministry has turned down a request by the parliamentary committee to visit Leh next month to examine the working conditions of soldiers deployed in forward areas in the high-altitude regions.
The public accounts committee (PAC), headed by Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, last month received the nod from Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla to visit Ladakh to meet the soldiers, according to news reports.
However, on Wednesday, the ministry said in a letter that “it may not be advisable” for the MPs to visit the region, given the standoff with China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Indian Express reported.
Surprisingly, another letter by the ministry which was sent a day earlier had made no mention of such concerns, the report said.
Background
Earlier this year, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) released a report highlighting that Indian troops based in high-altitude areas like Siachen and Ladakh faced acute shortage of appropriate clothing and equipment, including snow goggles, because of delays in procurement. The CAG audited the working condition of soldiers in high-altitude areas for the period between 2015-16 and 2017-18.
File photo of Indian soldiers in Siachen. Photo: India Army via Business Standard
The CAG report said troops deployed in high altitudes were supplied “reduced quantity of substitutes instead of the special scales of ration”, therefore compromising their daily energy requirements. The report also pointed out lack of improvement in housing conditions for soldiers.
In a meeting held last month, the PAC discussed these issues with Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and requested for a tour of MPs to the Ladakh region, following which Chowdhury wrote to Birla.
The members of the PAC were expected to visit Leh this week, but due to assembly elections in Bihar, bypolls in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, some MPs sought a change in dates and decided to visit Leh from November 8 to 10.
“The present situation with soldiers from both sides in close proximity; all officers and men are involved in ensuring full preparedness, to prevent any escalation in the situation. Accordingly, it may not be advisable for such a delegation comprising VVIPs to visit Leh, Ladakh at this juncture. A fresh date will be intimated as and when there is some disengagement on the ground,” the Indian Express report said, quoting a letter dated October 28 from the department of military affairs (DMA) of the Ministry of Defence.
The DMA is headed by Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat.
According to the news report, a letter from the DMA on October 27 mentioned no such concerns. In fact, the letter indicated that the visit is “considered feasible” provided the weather is stable.