Fund crunch forces Army to put on hold the payment of temporary allowances, say reports

The Indian Army has put on hold temporary travel allowances paid to soldiers for tours and training sessions, media reports said on Tuesday, quoting a notice the Army’s accounts division had put up on its website. However, the notice was soon deleted, the Hindustan Times reported.

“Due to insufficient funds available under Temporary duty and Permanent Duty Heads of Army officers, no TA/DA advances and claims can be processed till receipt of sufficient funds under the relevant heads,” read a notice by the Principal Comptroller of Defence Accounts. “However, the facility for Leave Travel Concession will continue.”

But the post was soon deleted, and an unidentified Army officer told the Hindustan Times that such posts were “uncalled for” and “painted a poor picture” of the force.

Overall transportation and other allowances for soldiers cost the Army around Rs 4,000 crore annually, The Times of India reported. But the principal comptroller of defence accounts has so far distributed only Rs 3,200 crore. An additional Rs 800 crore has been allocated to tide over the crisis, but more will be required, an officer said.

Another Army officer told The Times of India that the decision to put allowances on hold could disrupt the Army’s daily functioning. “For example, over 50% of officers on temporary duty at any given time have been tasked to attend courses of less than 180 days in duration, at different places,” he added.

An official from the Ministry of Defence said that sometimes the allocated expenditure falls short of the Army’s actual expenditure. He claimed that the shortfall was temporary and would be rectified through re-appropriation.

Interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal, who presented the Union Budget for 2019-’20 on February 1, proposed an increase in defence spending to more than Rs 3 lakh crore from Rs 2.95 lakh crore in the 2018-’19 financial year.