I am producing the question answer on the issue of URC ( Unit Run Canteens) retail outlets of the Canteen Stores Deptt of India a solele owned govt of India enterprise:-
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO 4212
ANSWERED ON 06.12.2010
UNIT RUN CANTEENS
4212 . Shri KAPIL MUNI KARWARIYA
Will the Minister of DEFENCE be pleased to state:-
(a) whether the Government proposes to hand over all the rights of retail outlets of Canteen Stores Department (CSD) canteens to Unit Run Canteens;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) if not, the reasons therefor?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF DEFENCE (SHRI A.K. ANTONY)
(a) to (c) : Canteen Stores Department does not have its own retail outlets. It sells stores to Unit Run Canteens, which are established from the non-public fund of the three Services and are under their control. "
If you carefully examine the answer given by the honourable Defence Minister you surely can find how ministry of Defence headed by the Def Min is encouraging loot and plunder of govt resouces in the name of selling grocery and liquors to the URCs with no intention of getting the profits earned by the URCs into the consolidated funds of India.This pales one lac seventy thousand crores 2G scam in comparison.
Let me reason WHY:-
Govt of India spends besides capital investments for lands and accomodation for Canteen Stores Department , Adelphi Mumbai and its 34 Depot across the country., crores of Rupees are spent on pay and perks as well as office expenditures. It is mandated to procure general goods and liquors from the manufacturers' premises with the wherewithal at its disposal and then sell it to the URCs at the wholesale rates. Profits accrued from the sale is peanuts in comparison to the huge yearly expenditures to the govt of India.
The goods received at the URCs then sold to the troops at the retail rates ( which is still cheaper than the market rates as URCs are provided all infrastrucral facilities incl parking land and covered accomodations free of cost( a very negligible Licence Fee and allied charges are recovered from the URCs). A substantial amount of soft loans are made available to the URCs from the Canteen Stores Department which is a solely owned enterprise of govt of India. In gist URCs are provided soft loans from the consolidated funds of India.
A huge profits is genrated at the URCs which is then merged into Regimental funds of the Regular Defence Units. This Regimental Fund is very unique in nature. It is neither public fund nor private fund but a fund available to the commanding officers , their bosses, the General Officers Commanding , up to the level of Chiefs of three services for gross misuse. It is this fund services celebrates every day of the year either a Raising Day or a Foundation Day , Corps Day , Regiment Day, Army Day , Air Force Day, Navy Day , Kargil Day etc etc. Further in the guise of celbrating this day that day three services collects donations by the lakhs and crores from the govt at the states , at the centre and get free liquors from the manufacturers who are ever ready to oblidge. In one of RTI Query it has been claimed that that Regimental Fund is a private fund and the people of this country is debarred from issuing silly question about its income / expenditures.
Coming back to the URCs. As one can see even the min of Def is shying away from the fact that govt money is being spent to run the canteen stores department and its 34 CSD Depots. URCsare the exclusive retail outlets of the CSD at the defence lands / installations . Profit generated at the URCs therefore can not be treated as the BAAP KA MAAL i.e private money.Canteen profits accrued at the CSD depot ( by selling goods to URCs) as well as at the URCs belongs to govt of India and must be ploughed back into the consolidated funds of India.
Secondly to make matter worse a huge sums of money is further transferred to the URCs from the profits earned at the CSD Depot (due to difference of procurement cost from the manufacturers and the wholesale price at which it sells the items to the URCs.) in the name of Quantitative Discount which even as per the CAG audit report 2010 is highly irregular. But the clandestine operation of converting govt / public money to so called NON-PUBLIC money is still continuing as the defence minister himself is a party to that loot or he is seriously misguided by his worthy defence ministry officials .
More the merrier- CSD facility is for the troops ( can refer www.csdindia,gov.in) and now the definition of troops has been enlarged by the people who are enjoying the loot and pluder for a long long time . I have a reply from the RTI cell Army Head quarters that as a goodwill gesture CSD facility was extended to the civilians paid out of defence estimate ( and that decision was taken in the year 1986 during a meeting of BOARD OF CONTROL CANTEEN SERVICES (BOCCA) chaired by then Raksha Mantri. And it is carrying on regardless in some pretext or other allowing all defence audit personnel whether drawing apy from defence estimate of civil heads . I have records to prove that defence audit personnel who are not even eligible for CSD facility are running 38 URCs at the govt accomodation for their civilian employees. Those civil establishments have no regimental fund which is peculiar to regular military units. Therefore the loot in the form of profits is paid as a dividend to all its civilian employees at some fixed intervals proportionate to the salary drawn by each individual ( thereby ensuring the head of that office is paid the maximum loot sorry dividend).
Even the canteen stores Depots which are posted with civilain govt employees only are running their own URCs in utter disregards to the rule of the land. Bigger the clientle more the sale and more is the profit and more is the QD. More scope for capital investment from the consolidated funds of India and bigger is the so called private money converted from the canteen profits . The Controllers of Defence Accounts headquartered at New Delhi and its 38 zONAL offices all are allowed to take part in the loot and scoot and they are busy increasing their yearly dividend. Where is the time for them to audit and put a stop Mega DEFENCE SCAMS ?
Defence Ministry is happy as they are the ultimate beneficiary of this mega loot and plunder as Generals are ubder their thunb , the auditors under their thumb.
What a country we have . A true BANANA REPUBLIC. Even the CAG has disappointd me as I have provided them all the details highlighting this mega loot and scoot but I think he is busy with the perceived loss of one lac seventy thousand crores in 2G for some future post retirement resettlement.
