Winter Clothing Procurement: Stretching a Fixed Budget
A battalion quartermaster must equip 750 personnel for winter from a sanctioned clothing budget of ₹18,00,000. The authorised scale is one jacket at ₹2,400 and one sweater at ₹900 per person; gloves at ₹350 a pair are authorised only for the 60 per cent detailed on night duty. The quartermaster's costing note declares the full requirement unaffordable and proposes to buy jackets only, deferring sweaters and gloves to the next financial year. The Commandant must decide before the first cold spell, now 20 days away. Separately, the battalion holds unspent POL savings of ₹5,00,000 that can be reappropriated for clothing with higher headquarters' sanction, which normally takes a week. A local supplier has offered an 8 per cent discount on jackets if the entire quantity is ordered in one lot within a fortnight. Two night-duty companies have already reported glove shortages during a recent training exercise, and the medical officer has flagged three cases of exposure-related illness among night sentries.
1. Compute the full authorised requirement head by head and state the shortfall against the sanctioned budget.
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Jackets: 750 × ₹2,400 = ₹18,00,000. Note that this alone exhausts the entire sanction.
Sweaters: 750 × ₹900 = ₹6,75,000.
Gloves: 60% of 750 = 450 pairs; 450 × ₹350 = ₹1,57,500.
Total requirement: 18,00,000 + 6,75,000 + 1,57,500 = ₹26,32,500.
Shortfall: 26,32,500 − 18,00,000 = ₹8,32,500, i.e. about 31.6% of the requirement (8,32,500 ÷ 26,32,500).
The arithmetic shows the quartermaster's framing is misleading: the problem is not that the scale is unaffordable in principle, but that jackets alone consume 100% of the sanction. Any plan that treats jackets as untouchable necessarily forces a 100% cut on the other two heads.
2. Is the quartermaster's proposal to buy jackets only, and defer sweaters and gloves, acceptable? Give your reasoning.
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Partially acceptable as a fallback, but not as proposed, for three reasons.
1. It mistakes sequence for choice. Buying 750 jackets at the discounted rate costs 750 × 2,400 × 0.92 = ₹16,56,000, leaving ₹1,44,000 - enough for 160 sweaters. Deferring everything else wastes that headroom.
2. It ignores documented harm. Two companies have already reported glove shortages and the medical officer has recorded three exposure-related illnesses. Gloves are the cheapest item (₹1,57,500 for all 450 pairs) and are operationally tied to night duty, so they carry the highest benefit per rupee.
3. The deferral period is the risk period. Sweaters are needed precisely in the weeks being deferred over; a next-financial-year purchase arrives after the cold spell and delivers no protection this season.
A defensible decision therefore rejects the binary 'jackets only' proposal, buys the discounted jackets (the discount is time-bound and worth ₹1,44,000), protects the night-duty glove entitlement, and buys sweaters to the extent the balance allows, with the shortfall escalated for reappropriation rather than silently dropped.
3. Recommend a procurement plan within ₹23,00,000 (sanction plus reappropriation) and justify the order of priority.
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Available funds: ₹18,00,000 + ₹5,00,000 = ₹23,00,000.
Step 1 - Jackets (universal need, discount is time-bound): 750 × ₹2,400 × 0.92 = ₹16,56,000. Balance: ₹6,44,000.
Step 2 - Gloves for all 450 night-duty personnel (highest risk per rupee): 450 × ₹350 = ₹1,57,500. Balance: ₹4,86,500.
Step 3 - Sweaters with the residue: 4,86,500 ÷ 900 = 540.5, so 540 sweaters = ₹4,86,000. Balance: ₹500.
Total commitment: 16,56,000 + 1,57,500 + 4,86,000 = ₹22,99,500, within the ₹23,00,000 ceiling.
Justification. Every person gets the outer layer, which is the only item that cannot be substituted. Gloves go to the full authorised 450 because night duty plus an existing illness record makes partial issue indefensible. Sweaters cover 72% of strength (540/750); issue should be prioritised to night sentries, outdoor posts and personnel over 45, with the remaining 210 covered by unit comfort funds or a first-quarter purchase.
Contingency to state explicitly: the plan depends on the 8% discount being honoured within the fortnight, so the purchase order must be placed before the reappropriation sanction arrives, with the Commandant's commitment authority recorded in writing. If the discount lapses, jackets cost an extra ₹1,44,000 and the sweater quantity falls to about 380 - a trade-off the Commandant should approve in advance, not discover later.