Pradip R Sagar By

NEW DELHI: It has now been confirmed that the much-publicised event where Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag had handed over a donation cheque (of amount equivalent to one day’s salary of all ranks) to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Jammu and Kashmir flood relief was nothing more than a photo-op.

In reply to an RTI query, the PMO has confirmed that it has not received the donation till date. On the occasion of the 67th Army Day on January 15, Gen Singh had presented a cheque titled ‘one day’s pay of all ranks of Indian Army’ to PM Narendra Modi in the presence of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. “Donation is yet to be received in the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF),” B K Roy, Under Secretary and Central Public Information Officer, PMO, said in reply to a RTI query on June 24.

This revelation comes as a huge embarrassment to the Ministry of Defence(MoD), which was in the news recently for submitting a bill of Rs 500 crore to the Union government for the national service it had rendered during last year’s J&K deluge. The Army had played a major role in the rescue-and-relief operations the devastating floods, the worst witnessed in the picturesque state in nearly half a century. In an operation that lasted for two weeks, the troops had rescued over two lakh stranded people.

It was first reported by Express on January 18 that many Army officers were upset with the ‘arbitrary’ decision taken by Army Chief to donate a day’s pay to contribute `100 crore to the PM’s relief fund to help the flood-hit in Jammu and Kashmir. In fact, annoyed with the decision taken without their consent, over 2,000 Army men, including officers wrote to the office of the Controller of Defence Accounts (CDA), which handles the salaries of Army personnel, conveying their disapproval at the decision. Some of them went ahead, saying they will take legal action if any amount is deducted from their salary account.

Realising the discontent among the officers, the Army Headquarters (HQ) had no other option but to approach the Office of the CDA, which eventually advised them that it would require a consent letter from each soldier for deduction of their salary to avoid any legal action or further controversy. But nearly six months on, the Army has failed to meet its commitment to the PMNRF.

The Army HQ initiated the process of collecting the money nearly two months after the Army Day, on March 12. The letter issued by the Adjutant General branch titled ‘Voluntary Contribution of One Day’s salary by Indian Army personnel to Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund for floods in J&K’ was signed by an officer of the rank of Brigadier.