Govt pulled up for under-utilisation of Def Eqpt bought under FTP

New Delhi, Dec 12 (UNI) A high powered Parliamentary body has taken the Government to task for purchasing through the Fast Track Procedure defence equipment which remained grossly under-utilised as it was supplied after considerable delay.

Though the Defence Ministry took recourse to the Fast Track Procedure (FTP) for procurement of equipment to demine over One Million mines laid along the borders during Operation Parakram launched in December 2001, it failed not only to ensure timely delivery by the vendor but also did not invoke the Liquidated Damages (LD) clause or penalise the vendor for the delay, the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament has noted.

Consequently, the PAC has urged the Defence Ministry to evolve a system for timely assessment of equipment requirements and their expeditious procurement under the normal procedure to obviate resort to a Fast Track Mechanism.

Fast Track Procedure (FTP) should be adopted only in ''emergent'' unavoidable conditions, opined the PAC in its 34th Report -- tabled in both houses today and titled ''Delayed purchase and insignificant utilisation of equipment procured under Fast Track Procedure''.

The Committee examined the issues involved in the evaluation, selection, procurement, delivery and utilisation of demining equipment by the defence authorities through FTP for demining over one million mines laid along the border during Operation Parakram launched in December 2001.

The Committee noted that while Op Parakram was thought of in 2001, the Army sent the proposal for procurement of demining equipment only in 2002.

''There was ample time available with the Army authorities to conceive, plan and procure the requisite equipment under the normal procedure itself... the necessity of a Fast Track Procedure in this particular case had arisen only because of the inaction on the part of concerned authorities earlier....'' Adoption of FTP instead of normal procedure for procurement of demining equipment was ''clearly indicative of lack of perspective planning on the part of the concerned authorities'', noted the PAC Report.

It further said that its scrutiny of the subject had revealed lapses like procurement delay, loss of benefit of competitive bidding because of adoption of FTP, and that most minefields had to be demined manually consequent to delayed procurement.

UNI DG PK KP1826