New Delhi, July 10: Intrusive minders off its back, the Indian Army has gone on a shopping rampage like a kid in a candy store — sometimes ending up with implications far graver than childish.

The defence force has been saddled with helicopters that cannot fly high enough, thousands of bombs for its heavy artillery that do not fire and stretchers that are not fit to evacuate casualties from a battlefield, according to a government audit report.

Some of its commanders have tried to hoodwink the government after new financial powers were vested in them and sought to pass off a purchase of golf carts as “recce vehicles” for its engineer regiments.

The stretchers bought by the Northern Command, which oversees Jammu and Kashmir, do not have a provision to hold intravenous fluid bottles, cannot be converted into field hospital beds and are not wheeled. The command bought the stretchers despite being told that these did not meet the requirements of the army.

The stretchers the army’s most active command has bought can result in casualties getting killed before they are transferred to hospital.

For now, these lapses, detailed in a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General released today, have cost the public thousands of crores.

The CAG says it also cost the military in its “operational preparedness”. Translation: in the event of hostilities, these will cost lives and battles.

The report, the latest in a series that demolishes claims by the defence establishment that it is transparent in its procurements, comes at a time the military under minister A.K. Antony is easily one of the biggest customers in the global arms bazaar.

The budget presented last week allocated Rs 1,41,703 crore for defence — more than the total for education and health — of which Rs 54,824 crore is earmarked for new and continuing purchases.

The army’s Advanced Light Helicopter, Dhruv, flies up to a maximum height of 5,000m. The requirement was that it should fly up to at least 6,500m to service soldiers posted in high altitudes such as in the Siachen Glacier and in Arunachal Pradesh.

Krasnopol ammunition used for the army’s heavy artillery 155mm Howitzer Bofors guns was urgently bought in 1999, the year of the Kargil war, from Russian firm KBP Tula. Another 1,000 rounds were delivered in 2000.

The ammunition was expected to have a shelf life of 15 years. But during trials in 2006 all six rounds “fired blind”. Yet, the army placed orders with the same firm again, this time for 2,000 rounds. In 2003, during test-firing of the ammunition in a high-altitude area, five rounds were fired. None hit the target.

The army now has 3,000 rounds of worthless Krasnopol — duds.

In 2006, in a move designed to make purchases easier, defence minister Antony decentralised fiscal powers and authorised army commanders to make purchases up to a limit to cut red tape.

One army commander, the general officer commanding-in-chief of the Chandimandir-headquartered Western Command (at that time Lieutenant General Daljit Singh), authorised the purchase of five electric multi-utility vehicles for Rs 15.60 lakh.

As military purchases go, the amount was piffling. But it was the hoodwinking that accompanied the deal that was telling.

The Western Command explained that these carts were necessary to transport aged/handicapped patients in military hospitals. Two carts were delivered to the army’s Research and Referral Hospital in Delhi, three to a command hospital. The command hospital issued them to Shivalik Golf Course in Chandigarh. They were golf carts.

Again, the army commander, Western Command, in March 2008, sanctioned the purchase of 22 track alignment reconnaissance vehicles for Rs 1.01 crore under the army commander’s special financial powers. At the time, Lieutenant General Tej Sapru was the western commander.

The recce vehicles were ostensibly for use by the regiments of army engineers. The command bought the vehicles — named Club Car — from a sports goods dealer. They were again issued to Shivalik Environmental Park and Training Area, the new name of the Shivalik Golf Course.

The nine engineer regiments to which the Club Cars were issued were responsible for the upkeep of the Shivalik park and golf courses.