NEW DELHI: With an aim to check freebooting even when off duty, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police ( ITBP), which guards the China border, has issued an order directing its finance department to recover free ration allowance from officers who have availed of it while on leave against entitlement.
Hundreds of officers have drawn free ration money during the last 15-16 years even while on leave. All jawans and officers are entitled to free ration money of Rs 3,000 per month during their posting in frontier areas.
“It has come to the notice of Directorate General ITBP that over 1,000 officers up to the rank of Commandants while they are/were deployed in free ration areas, and proceed on Earned Leave are sanctioned Ration Money Allowance during the period by the controlling authority in the last 15-16 years without any orders from MHA/GoI/Directorate General inadvertently. Whereas, Ration Money allowance during the period of Earned Leave is not admissible to officers posted in free ration areas,” says the internal memo, which was issued on May 22 by the ITBP HQ.
The ITBP has directed all frontier headquarters to prepare a list of such officers of the units/ formations under their command who are sanctioned ration money during leave and send the list to the finance wing for “affecting the recovery of ration money paid to them from their salary under intimation to the Organisation Branch”.
“Copy of this Memorandum may be issued to all Sector HQs, Units and Training Centres... with direction to deal with all such cases accordingly and consolidated list may be sent to take immediate action. This (order) issues with the concurrence of IFA and approval of DG, ITBP,” the memorandum by DIG R K Patariya added.