Indian Air Force aircraft were misused, says report
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
By Iftikhar Gilani
NEW DELHI: In a major scandal, eight transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) were converted for VIP use, but were misused for travel of the wives of the Army and Air Force chiefs and their accompanying staff. These wives who travelled in their capacity as presidents of the Air Force Wives Association (AFWA) and Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA) did not have entitlement to use the service aircraft.
Though removed from the regular fleet and reserved for VIP use, the aircraft were never used by VIPs - the president, the vice president and the prime minister, who are the only personages ordinarily entitled to use VIP aircraft. Expenditure incurred on these aircraft since their modification amounted to Rs 750 million. The Indian Air Force already has a specialised Communications Squadron, consisting of two Boeings, four executive jets, seven Avros and six helicopters.
“Given the existence of a specialised and dedicated squadron with adequate number of aircraft for flying VIPs and OEPs (other entitled personages), diverting eight Aircraft “A” for VIP/OEP use was not justified,” says a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) tabled in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Besides the “VIP” wives of the service chiefs, OEPs such as senior officers of the services, were the only persons making use of the aircraft that were modified despite denial of the approval sought from the government. The CAG report said this was not only irregular but also lacked justification.
The report pointed out that IAF did not have adequate number of serviceable Aircraft ‘A’ (basically medium-level transport aircraft for carrying troops and cargo and used for training in paratrooping and flying schools) for its primary role of air maintenance.
The CAG noted that even the aircraft in the Communications Squadron were under-utilised to the extent of only 3.9 per cent by the three entitled personages and 46.9 per cent by OEPs who can use them only if it is essential to do so. The CAG noted that earmarking aircraft for a VIP role outside the Communications Squadron also led to dilution of control on use of the service aircraft.
In its scathing remarks, the CAG said modification of eight aircraft for VIP role was “both irregular and improper as it was a deviation from the aircraft’s assigned role that had been fixed by the government … and the operational squadrons of IAF faced serious shortage of serviceable Aircraft ‘A’”.
