March 14, 2003	Friday	Muharram 10, 1424

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NEW DELHI, March 13: An Indian parliament committee on Thursday unveiled discrepancies in the purchase of high altitude sleeping bags for use by Indian soldiers at the Siachen glacier.

The committee, investigating the purchase of 8,588 sleeping bags at a total cost of 11.86 million French francs (1.9 million dollars) from a French firm, Monclear, between Sept 1992 and June 1993, found them to be “sub-standard and could not be used by the troops”.

“The manner in which the contract was executed by the ministry (of defence) gave an unmistakable impression that the intention was always to accommodate the foreign supplier under any circumstances regardless of the quality,” the committee said in its report tabled in parliament on Thursday.

It added that despite knowledge the company had gone “bankrupt and supplied inferior quality of sleeping bags, the committee was shocked to find that despite seeking cancellation of the contract, the ministry was negotiating another deal with the firm”.

The committee recommended an independent agency should investigate the “questionable role of the ministry of defence”. —AFP