NewDelhi:"There are many claimants for its restart but truth is that thecredit goes to former Navy Chief and Chairman, Chiefs of Staffs CommitteeAdmiral Sunil Lanba who pushed the case strongly with the Defence Minister andno individual can take credit," Army sources quoted General Rawat assaying during the seminar

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat has credited former Navychief Admiral Sunil Lanba and the government for restoring the facility ofgiving `rations in kind` for armed forces` officers. The facility was withdrawnby the government in 2017 after the implementation of the Seventh PayCommission.

While addressing a seminar of retiring officers, GeneralRawat announced that the facility of `rations in kind` is starting this monthfor officers. "There are many claimants for its restart but truth is thatthe credit goes to former Navy Chief and Chairman, Chiefs of Staffs CommitteeAdmiral Sunil Lanba who pushed the case strongly with the Defence Minister andno individual can take credit," Army sources quoted General Rawat assaying during the seminar.

The Chief also stated that it was Finance Minister and theDefence Minister who finally took a decision to restart the service, thesources said. In August 2017, Lanba had written a strong letter to the thenDefence Minister Arun Jaitley highlighting the issues related to armed forcesand stressed that the government should restore the ration facility as itswithdrawal was not helping in any savings and was likely to create issues inrunning defence officers` mess.

After the government announced the restoration of thefacility, several Army officers have been claiming credit over social media forthe restoration of the facility. Sources said that the Chief stated that theintervention by so-called credit claimants only delayed the process due toconflict of interest.

After the facility has been restored, all officers of theArmed Forces including those in peace stations will be getting ration. Theprovision for the officers, however, continued in the field area. The facilityof `ration in kind` also continued for jawans and Junior Commissioned Officers(JCOs).

The defence officers in peace areas were paid Rs 96 as`ration money allowance` instead of the ration. The money was directly creditedto their account.The Chief cited the example of the ongoing court case ofNon-functional Upgrade for defence officers saying it has been delayed as someindividual had approached courts on their own in the case.