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'Misuse of resources is rampant' Army choppers are mostly used to visit hill stations and holiday destinations Josy Joseph.New Delhi Air Marshal JS Apte, who landed himself in a soup after taking a private trip to Shirdi in an Indian Air Force helicopter, was plain unlucky to be caught, admit officers across the three services. With the top brass of military maintaining a studied silence, 'Military Tourism' is flourishing across India, as several senior officers misuse military infrastructure, planes and helicopters for purely personal pleasure seeking trips. The Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of IAF Maintenance Command, Air Marshal Apte, has now been summoned to Delhi and is set to face punishment for flying off to Shirdi in an official helicopter. However, DNA inquiries reveal that several dozen senior military officers have been misusing the facilities such as aircraft and choppers for what many dub as 'military tourism'. The destinations that are now seemingly topping the chart are Kerala and Lakshwadeep, besides the hill stations. "On paper, aircraft and choppers are allotted strictly according to laid down rules. But if there is misuse it is manipulation of records," said a retired officer. Sources told DNA that almost two dozen senior military officers, above the rank of Major General and equivalent, take helicopters down to Badrinath and Joshimat annually. Their destination: the holy temple at Badrinath, or the Sikh pilgrim center of Hemkunt Sahib, or the Valley of Flowers when it is in full bloom. The military tourism is such a regular practice in that part of the country close to China border that the military maintains over 30 VVIP rooms. The latest craze among the officers is to visit Kerala or the Lakshwadeep islands. Sources in Southern Air Command say they "regularly fly sorties" between the command headquarters and Kochi to transport senior visiting officers. The local Army Brigade in Thiruvananthapuram has put in "several requests in the recent times" seeking "state guest" status for many senior military officers, say state government sources. Most of these officers were on purely personal trips. In fact, the chief of one of the services took a plane down to Kochi last year, and from there a helicopter to Alapuzha and had a private holiday with his family. But sources said technically the chiefs are authorised use of helicopters and planes anywhere in India because it all falls under their 'operational area', and an old order from Indira Gandhi's days permit them the freedom URL : http://digital.dnaindia.com/epapermain.aspx?edorsup=Main&queryed=9&querypage=12&boxid=30841318&parentid=37949&eddate=04/09/2007 |
