New Delhi, June 18

Reversing a two-year-old order, the government today okayed the restoration of ration supply in kind for officers of the armed forces.

In July 2017, the government had stopped rations to officers on peace postings and instead started giving a monetary allowance per man per month as per instructions.

The allowance for the ongoing fiscal was Rs 117.29 per month. The decision had led to confusion as officers on peace posting frequently went out with their units for field exercises, where their troops were getting rations, but they had to make “own arrangements”. 

In the Army, when in a field exercise or on a forward location, the officers are supposed to have the same food as the troops. Similarly, some of the special forces of the Army, Navy and the IAF are based in what are classified as “peace postings” but are constantly training and the troops and officers again eat the same food. A large chunk of the forces, especially the Army, is deployed in forward areas.

The move had outraged the serving community and a serving Colonel sent a legal notice to the government, warning he would go to court if the order was not rolled back. 

Officers are required to have a daily calorie intake of 1,800 to 2,000, which was not possible with the allowance.

And the existing supply of rations was not resulting in a major fiscal outgo as bulk purchases meant cheaper rates of items. The forces have ‘scale’ of ration, which could be two eggs a day, some grams of chicken or mutton, or paneer and fresh vegetables. — TNS