Def ministry yet to clear DGMI budget

General VK Singh demitted the office of army chief on May 31, 2012, but the trust deficit between the military and the bureaucracy is yet to be bridged. HT reports.

General VK Singh demitted the office of army chief on May 31, 2012, but the trust deficit between the military and the bureaucracy is yet to be bridged.

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Four months into 2012-2013 fiscal, the defence ministry is still to clear the 2011-2012 budget of the Directorate General of Military Intelligence (DGMI).

While the 2011-2012 budget of the DGMI was cleared by General Singh before March 31 this year, the defence secretary - in his capacity as the auditing officer - is yet to sign the document.

This is because the army headquarters needs to explain whether the excess expenditure by DGMI in the past year was on account of spending in non-core activities.

A senior defence ministry official said: "We will handle the issue amicably… we would like to put the lid on such a sensitive issue."

As the defence ministry is concerned over 20% expenditure escalation over the past year, it wants the army to explain the discrepancies. Till the defence secretary signs last year's MI budget, no new allocation can be made to the DGMI.

According to the army headquarters, there has been no increase in the MI budget from 2007-2010, but due to cost escalation and violence in J&K, the expenditure had shot up by 15% in 2010-2011 and 10-12% in 2011-2012.

"The expenditure of various MI detachments is totally accounted for, with payments listed against each source. But the records are only kept for a month, as per rules. The MI chief has just returned (from leave), and he will sort out the matter," said a senior general.

Though the budget of the DGMI is classified, the average figure is said to be around Rs. 40 crore only.