Army gets wise, send jawans to Eritrea with more money, flour for rotis

Army gets wise, send jawans to Eritrea with more money, flour for rotis
GAURAV C. SAWANT

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 14: The army has learnt its lessons from the collapsed mission in Sierra Leone. Soldiers travelling for the United Nations Mission in Eritrea and Ethiopia (UNMEE) will take along wih them six months of their overseas allowances in US dollars, flour for rotis, training in the use of the internet apart from spares for equipment.

Clearly, the army doesn't want a repeat of Sierra Leone. ``We're trying to ensure that the troops carry spares and supplies so that they can be self contained,'' army sources said.

A 1,200-strong Indian contingent, which includes one battalion of the Maratha Light Infantry, an Engineer Construction Company and a force reserve company will leave shortly. The first batch will leave early March.

Soldiers in Sierra Leone could not be paid for six months since the salaries couldn't be remitted there. This time, the officers in charge would carry dollars for allowances and pay the soldiers at the beginning of each month. This is being done for the first ever time.

``Another problem soldiers faced in the previous mission was that they were averse to eating bread all the time. Initially, we did not have flour in west Africa. Therefore, rations for UNMEE will include flour and rice. And since letters from home are a major morale booster, we're trying to ensure that they write a few lines on the Internet. The mails will land in Delhi and the print-outs will be dispatched to their homes and vice versa,'' said an official.

Major General G.S Negi, additional Director General (Staff Duties) told The Indian Express that both the ministries of defence and external affairs had pored over minute details while drawing up plans. ``MEA and MoD decided to give the overseas allowances (OSA) in advance so that soldiers don't go without money. Letters will also be flown in by commercial airlines to Ethiopia. And UN will pay for all the equipment we use. However, we will take rations (food and water) and fuel from the UN,'' he said.

As the last batch of Indian soldiers return from Sierra Leone, troops being sent to monitor the de-militarised zone between Eritrea and Ethiopia are being given a crash course in politics, background of the conflict, social structure and geography of the African nation.

``Sierra Leone was our first mission with a wet lease system. Under this new system started by the United Nations, the troop contributing country had to provide for all the logistics and be self sustained. The UN only pays for the use of equipment,'' said an official.

The UNMEE was set up in July 2000 after two years of fighting in a border dispute between the two countries. The UN security council authorised a deployment of 4,200 military personnel which include 220 military observers. The force commander Major General Patrick C. Cammaert is from the Netherlands and the troop contributing countries include Algeria, Austria, Bangladesh, China, Denmark, France, India, Russia and Switzerland.