Dear Sir
I had submitted an appeal to RTI Cell IHQ of MoD New Delhi to provide me info :
a) Expenditures incurred on EME corps Reunion in the year 2011 by the EME Centre Secunderabad. As the Reunion in celebrated in every fifth year and a colossal amount of money spent this was my attempt to know the exact amount.
RTI cell promptly forwarded my application to EME regimental Centre which in turn denied the info stating that funds utilised are private funds and hence not under the provision of RTI Act. I have taken up the case with the first appelate auth who is the head of that same army unit at secunderabad. PIOs posn had been upheld.
Army Day, Air Force Day , Navy Day , Kargil Day are celebrated each year. There is similarly a day in all 365 days in a year which is celebrated as Raising day, Corps Day, Foundation Day, Demolition day etc etc . A huge chunk of money is spent from the resouces of the armed forces establishments. Corps Reunion where even the retd British RoyalEME officers and their families are invited at a huge costs is being treated as the private expenditures by the public servants namely the armed forces officers.
It is the same case where consolidated funds of India is utilised to run Canteen Stores Deptt to provide subsidised CSD goods to the troops which has been expanded to almost all civilians in the ministry of defence and Offence. Ahuge profit is then converted into so called private fund and grossly abused by the military commanders at all levels. Ref https://saiindia.gov.in/cag/sites/default/files/2010-11_14PA_DS/chap2.pdf.
I am putting an extract of Para 820 of Defence Services Regulation on Regimental Fund:
Regimental Fund.
820. Classification and Admnistrations- Regimental Funds comprmprise:-
a) All funds, other than public funds as in para 801 above,maintained by a unit, which are financed either wholly or partly from public money, and
b) Private funds which include all funds not funded in any way from the public money.
Pl help me submitting my appeal to CIC against the order of the First appellate auth as Regimental Funds get their incomes from :-
a) A nominal subscripttion ( .005 % for officers and .oo7 % for PBORs of their Basic Salary per month less two months on annual leave).
b) Rebates from the civil canteen contractors for running their commercial shops other than CSD canteens in the govt accomodations.
c) Profits from sale of CSD goods to almost all govt employees in town.
d) QDs( Quantitative Discounts from Canten Store Deptt( govt of India ) which is as huge as 300 crores a year. Ref CAG report on CSD available in the net.
e) profits Garden produced, Farm produced, Pond produced, donations from industrial houses, running of schools , colleges and such commercial activities by the unit personnel or outsouced to friendly contractors.
Now pl tell me whether expenditures for celebration of Amy Day, Navy Day , Air Force Day , Kargil Day, Raising Day , Foundation Day , Demolition Day by the Military units attended by even president of India and VVIPs, VIPs at the centre and states from the so called regimental funds comes under the purview of RTI or not. If yes pl advice how do I go about demolishing the root cause of all evils in the armed forces resulting into Tehelka, Bofors , HDWs, Kargil gate , Sukhna, Adarsh , Col Purohit etc etc.
Haridas Mandal
