Civil-military relations in the Defence Ministry are strained once again, this time over the issue of junior officers staying in hotels and not Army guest rooms when on temporary official travel.Expressing concern at the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (PCDA) asking for a Non-Availability Certificate (NAC) and rejecting refund claims by junior officers, the Army’s Southern Command shot off a letter to the Director-General Land Works and Environment in the Army Headquarters seeking clarification.“A number of temporary duty claims of officers, wherein they stayed in hotels, are being returned by PCDA for not attaching NAC from station HQs… The PCDA maintains that they are only ensuring that Army officers follow instructions,” a Major General rank officer said in the letter dated Nov. 16, written on behalf of the Southern Army Commander.
