‘Forces equipped to face any contingency’

The Indian armed forces are fully equipped to face any contingency, defence minister Arun Jaitley told the Lok Sabha on Friday amid the ongoing border standoff with China.

Asserting that any shortage in terms of arms and ammunition would be expeditiously made up, the minister said the observations by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) about ammunition supplies was for a particular period.

Last week, the CAG had slammed the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) for critical deficiency in availability of ammunition to the Army.

“The armed forces are fully equipped to face any contingency” and any shortage of ammunition would be expeditiously made up, Jaitley said during Question Hour.

The remarks come at a time when India and China have been locked in a border standoff while there have also been rising terror incidents in J&K.

In a report, the apex auditor had also criticised the OFB for inadequate quality of ammunition supplied to the Army since March 2013.

According to the report, despite serious concerns highlighted in a high-level report on ‘Ammunition management in Army’ in 2015, no significant improvement took place in the deficiency in availability and quality of ammunition a supplied by the OFB.

Regarding CAG reports, Jaitley said that as per procedure, after tabling in Parliament, they go to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and if the latter makes some recommendations, then action would be taken.