NEW DELHI:Nearly a month after Border Security Force (BSF) jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav exposed the poor quality of food served to them, the government’s principal auditor has confirmed that almost of half the food items sold in the armed forces’ Canteen Stores Department (CSD) are ‘sub-standard’.
According to a report prepared by Parag Prakash, Director General of Audit, Defence Services, on the working of CSD, 46 per cent of food samples picked up failed the laboratory tests. “It raises question marks over the credibility of the companies being introduced and the quality of food products supplied by them,” the Comptroller and Auditor General observed, quoting from the Director General’s report.
In fact, the lack of adequate testing facility in the armed forces has led to the distribution of poor quality food. The defence ministry has only three laboratories across the country.
“As hardly any laboratory is available for testing, more than 76 per cent food items are yet to be tested and their reports are pending for the past five years,” the auditor pointed out. A recent CAG report had come down heavily on the Army authorities for the poor quality of food items supplied to troops deployed in the operational areas of J&K and the Northeast, noting that they were given past their ‘expiry date’.
“Army continues to consume ration, even after the expiry of original shelf life,” the CAG said, quoting an instance when a sample of beer was found to be unfit for consumption.
The auditor observed that the “CSD failed to monitor and ensure timely receipt of test reports thereby defeating the purpose of testing. CSD’s assurance on the commitment to the FSSAI for ensuring that all units run under their respective control adhere to all the provisions of FSSAI rules and regulation are itself doubtful as the depot themselves have not been able to maintain the quality checks.”
It also pointed that the failure on the part of the CSD to carry out quality tests as per the policies laid down and assurances to a parliament panel resulted in non-testing of items supplied down the cycle.
The CAG report said the poor supply chain of rations led to low level of troop satisfaction regarding the quantity, quality and the taste. As much as 68 per cent of the feedback received was graded satisfactory and below, the CAG said.