"We suspect some of it is finding its way into the civilian market and we are trying to plug it..." It is not a suspected thing, but very well known fact. Also, there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING NEW IN THIS. From personal experience, I can tell you this has been going on for at least 40 YEARS. And, it is not liquor alone: almost everything available in the army "canteen" (heavily subsidised) finds its way into "civilian" markets. Suitcases, briefcases, cosmetics etc.
One examaple: shopkeepers used to get the hair dressing, "Vaseline Hair Tonic", from army canteens and sell it to their customers: till some civic authorities (I don't know exactly which one), started taking punitive action against such shops if the label on the bottles indicated that it was army supply.
Very disturbing is the fact that high ranking army officers do it, using "soldiers" (e.g, "Other Ranks") as their delivery men. In the light of these facts, it may not be correct to blame the phenomenon on UPA government's failure "to give the soldiers a decent salary." Salaries paid to personnel of our armed forces are certainly not commensurate with the service they give to the nation, but this is not the main incentive for the thievery.
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"We suspect some of it is finding its way into the civilian market and we are trying to plug it..."
It is not a suspected thing, but very well known fact. Also, there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING NEW IN THIS. From personal experience, I can tell you this has been going on for at least 40 YEARS.
And, it is not liquor alone: almost everything available in the army "canteen" (heavily subsidised) finds its way into "civilian" markets. Suitcases, briefcases, cosmetics etc.
One examaple: shopkeepers used to get the hair dressing, "Vaseline Hair Tonic", from army canteens and sell it to their customers: till some civic authorities (I don't know exactly which one), started taking punitive action against such shops if the label on the bottles indicated that it was army supply.
Very disturbing is the fact that high ranking army officers do it, using "soldiers" (e.g, "Other Ranks") as their delivery men. In the light of these facts, it may not be correct to blame the phenomenon on UPA government's failure "to give the soldiers a decent salary." Salaries paid to personnel of our armed forces are certainly not commensurate with the service they give to the nation, but this is not the main incentive for the thievery.
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