Indian troops face shortage of food and clothing in Siachen: report

CAG report says young troops are devoid of proper food and equipment to fight tormentous snow and flashing sunlight

Life is already hard in Siachen and it is very difficult to live there without healthy food and special equipment, especially when you are a soldier and stationed at the highest battlefield in the world.

Indian troops are braving the harsh weather without proper food and special sunglasses and shoes meant to fight tormentous snow and flashing sunlight, according to a report presented a few days ago in Rajya Sabha – the upper house of Indian parliament.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the other hand, is patting himself on the back, claiming to have improved the condition of the troops.

The shortage of things for the young Indian soldiers in Siachen and other icy forward posts – including Ladakh and Doklam – situated on 18,000 to 32,000 feet heights was stated by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its recent report.

CAG is the main government body of audit in India.

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Indian Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane dismissed the report, saying that the CAG report presents an outdated review of the situation which existed in 2015 and 2016. “I assure you that today we are all set and we will make sure that all the needs of the youth are taken care of,” he told ANI new agency.

However, former major general of the Indian armed forces Ashok K Mehta, while talking to BBC, said that the CAG report indeed pertained to a very serious matter and showed that “we are not prepared for any unexpected situation”.

Maj Gen (retd) Mehta had earlier also confessed that the young Indian soldiers have had a shortage of such things in the past, and that the lack of weapons and other equipment for the army was clearly exposed during the Kargil war of 1999.

Sixteen years after Kargil, General VP Malik in an article wrote that even though things had improved, the army was still worried about the shortage of weapons and other equipment. He maintained that the army was facing a shortage of things due to lack of funds although the government promises to raise the budget every year, but the funds are insufficient due to the increase in exchange rates and prices.

A report by English daily The Telegraph recently said that around 90,000 Indian troops could not get enough facilities due to lack of funds.

The latest CAG report says that the shoes the young men are getting are out of date and that the shortage of special snow sunglasses was also a serious issue.

This article originally appeared on BBC Urdu