Canteen Stores Department (India)
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Canteen Stores Department ('CSD') is run by the Indian Ministry of Defence, and has a presence in all major military bases operated by the Indian Armed Forces. CSD sells a wide variety of products like household provisions, kitchen appliances, alcoholic drinks, cars, sports equipment, exclusively for active and retired members of the Armed Forces. Generally, these goods are procured by CSD in bulk, and sold at concessional rates, compared with retail prices.
The CSD has grown from a turnover of Rs. 48 in 1948 to over Rs. 2.700 crore in 1998-99 - a growth of over 4500 times. Turnover per employee in 1998-99 was Rs. 122 lakhs. The CSD serves 16 million people - 5% of India's population which can afford consumer items and durables. The CSD's profits are ploughed back into Welfare Schemes for Defence Personnel and their families. The CSD has a very low ratio of operating expenses to turnover - 1.30% - perhaps the lowest in any organization in the country. With 33 Area Depots and 3400 Unit-Run-Canteens(URCs), the CSD serves the services in all the parts of the country - from Ladakh in the North, Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the South, Nagaland in the East, Rajasthan in the West and even Port Blair.
The CSD maintains an inventory of 2800 items that cover a wide range, from shoe laces to cars. The CSD has 'Bi-annual Sales cum-After-Sales Melas' at its Area Depots which includes items not in the CSD's inventory. It caters not just to the services personnel and their families but also to GREF, NCC Units at Group HQ level, TA units, CDA's staff, Ordinance factories, Embarkation HQs, Civilians paid from Defence estimates and Para-military forces under operational/administrative control of the Army. It is the only department in the Ministry of Defence where defence civilians are actually serving in forward and high altitude areas, shoulder to shoulder with the combatant personnel of the Armed Forces.
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[edit] Historical Background
To trace the history of the organization, it is necessary to understand its origin. The origin of CSD is essentially set in the British era when Army Canteen Board in India was established as an offshoot of the Navy and the Army Canteen Board in the UK. While the latter was abolished in 1922 in the UK, and was replaced by NAAFI(Navy, Army and Air Force Institute), its counterpart in India continued till 1927. The Army Canteen Board in India was established mainly to provide canteen facilities to British troops in India through grocery shops and bars run by canteen contractors.
The achievements of NAAFI in the UK did not inspire any corresponding change in India. However, the Army Canteen Board, liquidated in 1927, was replaced by the Canteen Contractors' Syndicate(CSS). It floated in the form of a limited company, under government control with its registration office at Karachi. This company started off with a paid-up capital of Rs 6 lakhs only. The shareholding was confined to the canteen contractors. The CSS functioned with reasonable efficiency until the commencement of World War II.
In agreement drawn up with the organization,the government had kept a provision for taking over the organization in an emergency or a war situation. After World War II broke out,this provision was not made use of in the initial stages. However, after the heavy build up of the British troops in India, the CSS could no longer cope-up with the situation. Therefore, on 1 July 1942, the Government of India made use of the specific provision in Services(India) under the Directorate of Wholesale Trade and Indian Canteen Corps to handle the retail trade in operational areas. Canteen suppliers poured in from abroad and the organization functioned extremely well during the War. By 31 March 1946, it was not only able to pay back to the government the assignments of funds made available to it but could also function on its own trading capital. However, with the end of the War and homeward movement of the British troops, the import facilities dwindled and the turnover of the organization shrank. With the pulling out of troops from the operational areas, the Indian Canteen Corps was disbanded and the staff retrenched.
This was closely followed by the independence and partition of the country, and the war -time organization gave birth to two Canteen Stores Departments, i.e., CSD(India) and CSD(Pakistan). The retail trade, however, reverted to the contractors. A board of Liquidation was formed to oversee the liquidation of assets of the war-time organization which ceased to function from 31 December 1947.
The Canteen Stores Department, the present organization, thus took birth on 1 January 1948 with a working capital of Rs 48 lakhs assigned to it from assets of its predecessor war-time organization. The Government of India had granted the organization a life of three years on experimental basis. The experiment was a success by a long margin. The myth that Indian troops were not canteen-minded had been blown sky high. The situation was reviewed in 1950 and the Department was accepted as a government undertaking on a permanent basis. Canteen facilities for the Indian troops had come to stay.
[edit] Activities Evolved Over the Years
Business practices of CSD have evolved over the years and are based on commercial, financial and administrative experience. The development of these practices have always kept the objective of the organization in view. The department procures consumer goods and consumer-durable products in bulk directly from suppliers and positions them at 33 Area Depots(acting as whole sale depots), spread all over the country, for meeting the requirements of over 3500 URCs which function as retail outlets. Many of the URCs are located in remote/inaccessible parts of the country. Today our clientele is about four million households, comprising soldiers, sailors, airmen, serving and retired and their dependents.
It is relevant to highlight the salient differences in the purchases made by us and the other government departments. While the other Government departments make purchases for their own consumption and utilisation, the CSD purchases stores for whole sale retailing. The Department sells stores to unit canteens based on their monthly demands which, in turn are based on what their customers wish to buy from their hard-earned money. Hence the Department procures only those products which are demanded by the customers.
As CSD provides access to a large market and being a department of the Government and because of the bulk orders and assured payments, a large number of suppliers are interested in doing business with the Department. CSD has an all-India spread infrastructure but it works within the parameters stipulated by the Government, as public funds are involved.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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