Indian Army Chief V K Singh on Wednesday appeared before Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in connection with alleged irregularities in the canteen stores supplies. The PAC had called the chiefs of the three defence services for a hearing after a CAG report pointed out irregularities in the supply chain management of rations by Canteen Stores Department (CSD), according to an Indian television channel.
Singh appeared before the PAC headed by senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi at around 11 am and senior Army officials made a presentation of management of rations in the Army. The armed forces have decided to stick to their stand that their unit-run canteens (URC) are beyond the purview of the PAC. "We still maintain that URC is beyond their purview. That is the basic issue on which I presume the hearing or questioning will take place. We have given our replies to them and let us see how it goes," Naik had said earlier.