No TA/DA for Army Officials :Defence Ministry rues dearth of funds

Citing a dearth of funds, the Defence Ministry has announced that it will no longer process advances and claims of Army officials with respect to travelling and dearness allowance (TA/DA).

"Due to insufficient funds available under temporary 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," said a statement from principal controller of defence accounts PCDA (officers).

However, the facility of Leave Travel Allowance (LTC) will continue.

The defence accounts controller also informed that if queries by officers are not settled through regular correspondence with the respective sections, they may address their complaint to the SAO (Tech) Complaint Cell Officer.

The Union government while presenting the interim budget in Parliament at the beginning of the month claimed that the defence budget for the first time touched the figure of Rs 3.05 crore as the government hiked it by Rs 19,873 crore from last year's allocation of Rs 2,85,423 crore.