Chiefs of armed forces to appear before PAC today

New Delhi, Jan 12 (ANI): Chiefs of the Army and the Air Force will appear before the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to explain alleged discrepancies in ration procurement and distribution.

The chiefs of the three services - the Army, the Air Force and the Navy - have been summoned for questioning on the observations by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on alleged irregularities in canteens of the armed forces.

On Monday, Army Chief VK Singh and Air Chief PV Naik said they would appear before the PAC headed by senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi.

"We are following the directives of the defence ministry. I will appear before the PAC," Singh said.

The Navy would, however, be represented by Vice Chief D K Deewan, as chief Nirmal Verma is in Indonesia on a "pre-scheduled" four-day visit which began on Sunday.

The CAG had said in a 2009 report that the canteen stores department's procurement and distribution of dry rations was faulty.

The management of the canteen stores department had not assessed the rations requirement and, also, much of it was of poor quality, the report said. (ANI)