Explosive revelations by former Army Chief Gen. V.K. Singh (Retd) that most ministers in Jammu and Kashmir were being paid by the Army is beginning to have a ripple effect among the country’s security and intelligence agencies.
The government, in a highly confidential note circulated to the intelligence and security agencies, most of which operate in the trouble-torn Kashmir Valley, directed them to keep proper accounts, “irrespective of whether they (agencies) are open to an external audit or not” of all operational expenses in Jammu and Kashmir.
Sources said this in effect meant that all payments made through “source money” as well as “secret funds” by these agencies will have to be properly accounted for. Virtually all key intelligence and security agencies have a sizeable presence in the Valley and are often involved in complex covert counter-insurgency operations.
Government sources admitted funds for such operations in Kashmir were often left out of the ambit of external audits, including by the CAG. But all agencies are meant to keep an internal record of expenses incurred in counter-insurgency operations, including covert action, in militancy-affected states.
While a section of the intelligence top brass supported Gen. Singh’s claims, they strongly advocated the need to keep security-related activities out of the public purview. But the government is now clear that all agencies have to account for expenses in the Kashmir Valley, including payoffs to local politicians, NGOs and civil society groups out of secret funds.