More fresh fruits, eggs, condiments for Indian soldiers

The Government has taken a series of measures in recent times to improve the scale and variety of rations being provided to the troops of the Indian Army to increase their satisfaction levels and achieve higher morale and enhanced combat capabilities.

An official press release said that, as part of these measures, the procurement procedure for "atta" (flour) had been modified and branded "atta" from reputed vendors was being procured on a pilot project basis at select stations.

This has been welcomed by the troops and would be extended to other stations also in a time-bound manner.

It said sanction had been accorded for authorisation of special rations to all troops deployed above 12,000 feet. This is expected to go a long way in meeting the physiological and psychological needs of troops deployed in such inhospitable terrain and climate.

At present, junior commissioned officers (JCOs) and jawans are authorised 230 grams of fruits thrice a week. Stressing that fresh fruits were essential for intake of minerals and vitamins, the quantity has now been enhanced to 230 grams every day. With this decision, the scale of fresh fruits for officers and jawans has been made identical.

According to the release, one of the major shortcomings observed in the scale of rations was the lack of variety for breakfast for JCOs and jawans. In almost all units, the breakfast menu is invariably "puris" and "sabji", which, over a period of time, gets extremely monotonous. This was partially addressed by the introduction of 115 grams of bread in lieu of atta /rice for four times a week in June 2006. However, eggs which are the normal accompaniment to bread was not authorized to JCOs and jawans which has now been addressed by authorization of two eggs every day. This would result in meeting the long-standing requirement to provide variety in the diet of troops especially for breakfast.

The Government has also made a significant increase in condiment allowance, which has now been enhanced to Rs 76.62 per man per month. This will address the high inflation and resultant rise in prices of these commodities, especially in far-flung areas.

NNN