A high-powered committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of Mr Subir Dutta, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Defence, to look into the various issues faced by Border Roads Development Board (BRDB). The committee has been asked to submit its report soon. This was announced by the Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes while addressing the meeting of the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Defence in New Delhi.

Complimenting the efforts of BRO personnel in constructing and maintaining roads and bridges in difficult terrain and remote areas of the country, the Defence Minister said that government will do everything possible for them. Mr Fernandes also appreciated the construction work carried out by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in neighbouring Myanmar and Bhutan. He expressed concern over the activities of some insurgent groups in the North-East, who were trying to obstruct the road construction by BRO. The Minister said that he would look into the issues raised by Director General BRO, Lt Gen .A K Puri. Earlier, in his presentation, Lt Gen Puri raised several issues concerning BRO which included shortage of funds, technical personnel and discrimination between Armed Forces and BRO personnel in terms of benefits and other facilities. Lt Gen Puri said that BRO holds equipment costing Rs 625.51 crore with a current depreciated value of Rs 430.60 crore. He said that the budgetary support for procurement of new equipment remained a restraining factor. Against an existing deficiency ofRs 215 crore, the allocation in this financial year was only to the tune ofRs 100.38 crore. He underlined the need for an additional budgetary allocation of Rs 50 crore during the current financial year to partially make good this deficiency.

Lt Gen Puri informed that though the BRO personnel work in the same hostile and difficult environment as the Army, there has been a decline in the honours and awards given to them last year as compared to previous years. Therefore, there is a need to formalise the system at the Corps/Command/ Army HQrs and at the government level to ensure greater recognition to the commitment, dedication and sacrifices of the personnel of this organisation, he added. Lt Gen Puri also pointed out that there has been no increase in general staff budget for the year 2000-2001. Based on the allocation of Ministry of Finance, it had to be pegged at the same level of Rs 700 crore as of last year. He also expressed concern over the inadequate security cover available for BRO personnel. In this connection, he referred to the recent decision of the government to withdraw two Companies of Territorial Army in the North-East and pleaded for continuation of security cover provided by these companies for another one year. Referring to the inadequate funds for providing clothing to BRO personnel, he said against the yearly requirement of Rs 21 crore, the budgetary allocation during the current financial year was only Rs 13 crore. Unless the gap between the requirement and the allocation is nullified in the next year and maintained at a level of Rs 21 crore each year, the clothing position in the BRO will be a major cause for alarm, Lt Gen Purl added.

Referring to the recent activities and achievements of BRO, Lt Gen Puri said that road projects taken up by BRO in Myanmar were highly appreciated by Myanmar authorities. He said that one more road under construction there, will be completed by October this year. After operation Vijay, seven projects were assigned to BRO in Kargil sector out of which five have been completed and handed over to Army. He also referred to the great effort put by BRO personnel in repairing most of the bridges damaged by flood waters in Arunachal Pradesh.

The members of Parliament appreciated the work carried out by BRO personnel under most difficult conditions and pleaded for more facilities for them. One member suggested that BRO should explore work opportunities in other neighbouring countries like Nepal. Another member called for immediate completion of second phase of fencing of lndo- Bangladesh border. A member suggested that government should look into the growing number of resignations in BRO and take remedial measures to stop brain drain from this organisation. Another member felt that activi ties and achievements of BRO should be given wide publicity through official media.

The following members attended the meeting; Capt lnder Singh, Dr Nihal Chand, Mr Pusp lain, Dr C Krishnan, Mr N N Krishnadas, Mr Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, Mr Mansoor Ali Khan, Mr Hassan Khan, Mr Shyama Charan Shukla, Mr Gurcharan Singh Galib and Mr M Rajaiah -all from Lok Sabha, Mr T N Chaturvedi, Mr S Agniraj, Dr Ranjan Prasa.d Yadav, Mr Khagen Das, Mr Chaudhary Chunni Lal, Mr K Kalavenkata Rao, Mr Karnendu Bhattacharjee and Mr Kripal Parmar -all from Rajya Sabha. The Minister of State for Defence Production and Supplies, Mr Harin Pathak and Secretary, Defence Production and Supplies, Mr Ravindra Gupta were also present during the meeting.