ITBP affected as ordnance factories delayed arms supplies: CAG

Performance of ITBP guarding the sensitive Sino-India border has been "adversely affected" as ordnance factories did not supply necessary arms and ammunition to the force for upto to six years after taking advance payments, the CAG today said.
In its latest report tabled today in Parliament, the CAG said advance funds of Rs 15.58 crore of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) were blocked from period ranging one year to six years because of non-supply of arms and ammunition.
The CAG said the supplies should have been made within nine months of taking advance.
The auditing body has recommended that the Home Ministry should look into the issue of advance payment to the ordnance factories and take effective steps to remove the "inefficiencies in the system", by making the factories "more accountable and ensuring timely supply of urgently needed arms and ammunitions" to ITBP.

"The Ministry of Home Affairs...Had no practice of quoting time schedule for supply of arms and ammunition at the time of issue of sanction order and making advance payments against sanctioned amounts to ordnance factories," it said.
The report said as per the proforma invoice of the ordnance factories, the supplies were to be made within period ranging between one and nine months from the date of receipt of advance payment.
"Scrutiny of records (August 2009 and May 2013) of the office of a support Battalion, Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force, Karera, Shivpuri, M.P revealed that the payment of Rs 15.58 crore being 60 per cent of the total cost was made as advances during 2007-08 to 2012-13 to different ordnance factories for supply of emergent requirement of arms and ammunitions," it said.