Government endangering India's security infra: Congress
New Delhi, June 27: Accusing Narendra Modi government of endangering India's security infrastructure and using armed forces as "political fodder", the Congress on Monday said the government has failed to provide them with the most "fundamental resources to perform their gruelling duties".
Citing a parliamentary report, Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi said: "In a scathing indictment of the Modi government, Vice Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen. Sarath Chand had testified to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, headed by Major General B.C. Khanduri, and exposed a shameful state of neglect towards the requirements of our armed forces."
"He (Chand) has reiterated the fact that only 8 per cent of our equipment is state-of-the-art, 68 per cent is vintage ... there's not enough resources to undertake the construction of strategic roads on China border and 'Make in India' scheme in Defence has completely failed," she said in a statement.
Chaturvedi asked: "Is Modi government endangering our 'security infrastructure'? Is it guilty of putting the life of our soldiers in danger? Are they using our soldiers as ‘political fodder' - using their sacrifice for vote garnering?
"The Modi government has failed in its most basic and fundamental obligation, i.e. to ensure that our armed forces are provided with the most fundamental resources to perform their gruelling duties," she added.
Chaturvedi said that the implications of this expose for national security are far-reaching.
"Our soldiers sacrifice their lives daily. 280 Jawans have been martyred in Jammu and Kashmir (since 2014) and 243 martyred in Naxal attacks (since 2015).
"The Maoist attack which led to the martyrdom of six Jaguar jawans proves that Modi government has messed up the security infrastructure," she added.
Attacking the government, Chaturvedi said: "There is no money to buy weapons and equipment. The morale of armed forces is the lowest due to the step-motherly treatment meted out to them by the BJP government, and constant degradation and down gradation of ranks."
"A clear testimony to this fact is that in Union Budget 2018-19, Defence got just 1.58 per cent of GDP, lowest allocation since 1962. Our armed forces are staring at a crisis caused by an unqualified government," she said.
She said that the budget allocation on defence should be done judiciously and ready-to-attack and state-of-the-art weapons should be immediately made available to the armed forces.
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K’taka to launch special drive for drinking water tests in gram panchayats amid rising temperatures
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Bengaluru: As summer intensifies across Karnataka, the state government is preparing to initiate a special campaign to test drinking water across the state.
A directive is expected to be issued to all chief executive officers of zilla panchayats, instructing gram panchayats within their jurisdictions to conduct water quality tests, as reported by The New Indian Express on Thursday.
Karnataka has around 6,000 gram panchayats and their staff have been trained to conduct field tests. They check the water quality for 12 parameters, including potential of hydrogen (PH), chloride, fluoride, iron, nitrate, alkalinity, residual chlorine, and total dissolved solids. The hydrogen sulfide test is also conducted to check the presence of bacteria.
The testing has been made mandatory after several drinking water contamination cases have been reported over the years across the state, added the report.
Anjum Parvez, Additional Chief Secretary for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, said that water quality testing is routinely mandated twice a year—once before and once after the monsoon season.
“During pre-monsoon, groundwater level goes down and the quality of water has to be checked. Post monsoon, the flow of water is more, and the threat of contamination is not high, but even then water is tested. Potable drinking water is our priority,’’ TNIE report quoted Parvez as saying.
He also noted that panchayat development officers and engineers regularly inspect water supply pipelines for leakages.
The state government has taken disciplinary action in past cases involving supply of contaminated water and is now conducting special campaigns to prevent such incidents.
