Rajya Sabha MP Tulsi bats for Centre on Army's ammunition

New Delhi [India], July 22 (ANI): Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament and senior advocate KTS Tulsi on Saturday termed the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on the state of ammunition in the Indian Army as concerning and said the Union government is taking all necessary measures. Speaking to ANI, Tulsi said, "The government has relaxed the norms for the purchase of ammunition. Adequate action is being taken. The CAG report may have been done six months or one year ago; the time period is not defined. There is a possibility that the position might have changed now." However, if true, Tulsi said, the report highlights a serious matter which needs to be looked into immediately. "Even after three years of the current government, it is not expected," he added. With regards to improper training of the Indian troops, Tulsi stressed the need to look into the situation, and added that the government needs to be prepared for a war-like situation. "The Centre cannot say that they are not prepared. This will bring down the morale of the Armed forces. It is a question of life and death," said Tulsi. Responding to an FIR being filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) over the use of fake Chinese spare parts for indigenised Bofors guns, Tulsi demanded an enquiry into the matter and punishment for the defaulters. In its report that was tabled in Parliament, the CAG on Friday flagged critical shortage of ammunition in the Indian Army . The CAG found deficiencies in the performance of the Ordinance Factory Board (OFB) and found no improvement in the functioning of its factories in comparison to what it was in 2013. The report pointed out two critical shortages in the artillery and tank ammunition and blamed the OFB for failing to deliver as per the roadmap that was set in 2013. "We observed no significant improvement in the availability of ammunition (September 2016).availability of 55 per cent types of ammunitions was below MARL i.e. minimum inescapable requirement to be maintained for operational preparedness and 40 percent ammunitions were in critical level, having stock of less than 10 days," the CAG report noted.(ANI)