CAG report flags payment delays, poor upkeep in military hospitals

The CAG report tabled in Parliament highlighted major issues in the Army, including delayed payments to personnel, poor maintenance and infrastructure in military hospitals, and shortcomings in engineering contracts, prompting calls for digitisation.

The Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on Union Government (Defence Services-Army) was presented in the Parliament on Monday, with the report calling for digitisation of site records and also flagging the lack of maintenance in some military hospitals. The report also highlighted that "a large number of Army personnel did not get prompt and correct payment of their dues."

This report comprises three chapters containing the results of audit of (i) Functioning of Pay and Accounts Offices and Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Officers) of Defence Accounts Department (ii) Internal Control and Quality Assurance in Execution of Military Engineer Services (MES) Contracts and (iii) Management of Military Hospitals under the Ministry of Defence.

MES Contracts and Quality Assurance

According to an official statement, the report observed "shortcomings in the maintenance of site documents which diluted the accountability of contractors and did not provide adequate assurance on the veracity of test results."

"Audit recommended that the Ministry undertake digitisation of site records; the amendments regarding maintenance of CPM charts in only major works and amendments regarding provision of site lab according to type and value of work may be carried out expeditiously in a time-bound manner," the statement read.

Delayed Payments and Systemic Weaknesses

The audit also highlighted that non-carrying out of review of Provisional Final Settlement of Accounts (PFSA) as per prescribed timelines had resulted in a huge one-time recovery at the time of retirement of Officers/JCOs/ORs, causing undue hardship to retiring personnel. Further, non-incorporation of relevant business rules in IT systems resulted in incorrect disbursements/payments to Army Personnel.

The Compliance Audit was conducted to assess the timeliness and correctness of the disbursement of pay and allowances and other dues by PAOs and PCDA (O) to Army Personnel and the reasons for any shortfalls.

On the issue of non-payment of dues, the report attributed it to the "systemic weaknesses and deficiencies in the functioning of both the Army and the DAD (Defence Accounts Department)."

The Defence Accounts Department (DAD) functions under the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The responsibilities of the DAD include inter-alia maintaining the pay and accounts of the Indian Army Personnel. The disbursement of pay and allowances of Officers is carried out by the office of the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Officers) (PCDA (O)) and that of Junior Commissioned Officers/Other Ranks (JCOs/ORs) is done by the Pay and Accounts Offices (PAOs).

Recommendations for HR Systems

The report has, among other things, recommended the Defence Ministry to streamline the process to reduce the timelines for publishing PTOs (Privilege Ticket Order) in HRMS (Human Resource Management System).

"The applications for processing of PTOs may be harmonized to ensure synchronization of master database, validation checks and mapping of business rules to reduce rejection rates of PTOs. Further, it has been recommended to introduce an automated monitoring system for review of rejected PTOs which should be visible both in DOLPHIN/SULEKHA as well as HRMS/ARPAN applications," the official statement read.

Deficiencies in Military Hospitals

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) also found "deficiencies" in the infrastructure of Military Hospitals (MH), mainly due to the delay in modernising the buildings, which in turn "which hampered the pace of addition of new specialities and technologies."

"Despite buildings being very old, regular structural audit of hospitals was not being carried out. In one particular instance, a part of MH Lansdowne had collapsed in June 2022. There were some deficiencies in providing essential facilities like Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system and firefighting system. Further, due to vintage buildings and storage constraints, the AFMSDs were unable to properly stock up medical stores," the official statement mentioned.

Audit recommended that the Ministry undertake expeditious modernisation of hospital buildings, regular conduct of Structural Audit, adherence by MHs to fire safety guidelines and statutory provisions pertaining to discharge of hospitals' effluents, ensure availability of CDL drugs in AFMSD and timely and free replacement of unconsumed medicines or recovery of due amount from concerned suppliers.

Audit also noted that despite prevalence of statutory provisions there was non-compliance pertaining to discharge of hospitals' effluents as per Bio-Medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2016, non-maintenance of documents as per Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Regulations and operation of X-ray machines without the prescribed licenses.

The Compliance Audit was conducted to assess the timeliness and correctness of disbursement of pay and allowances and other dues by PAOs and PCDA (O) to Army Personnel and the reasons for any shortfalls

Medicine Shortages and Financial Loss

"AFMSDs (Armed Forces Medical Stores Depots) could not meet one-third of the medicine demands received from MHs, as also the demands for the Common Drug List (CDL) medicines. Additionally, non-replacement/adjustment of medicines before expiry by two AFMSDs led to blockage of public money to the extent of ₹13.52 crore," the statement read.

Among the total 7 commands reviewed, Western Command exhibited the most non-compliance across key control parameters, according to the statement.

However, the audit also highlighted that the Ministry of Defence has taken corrective steps on some of the audit observations which have been highlighted in the report. (ANI)

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