The aim is to improve the conditions in which soldiers live in these high altitudes. The decision was taken after a military survey revealed that poor living conditions were adversely impacting the morale and combat preparedness of soldiers manning these posts.

The survey itself was prompted by former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran’s report on improving infrastructure along the China border, in which he contrasted the sad state of affairs on the Indian side with that on the Chinese side.

The Defence Ministry has sanctioned Rs 250 crore for a pilot project to revamp 20 posts by next year. Six of these are in the eastern sector; the rest along the northern and middle sectors. Some posts on the Indo-Pak Line of Control have also been chosen for revamp, sources said.

The second phase of the project will be put before the Cabinet Committee on Security for approval soon. The Ministry plans to upgrade all posts by 2014, at a cost of Rs 3,000 crore.

The revamped posts, designed for a platoon strength of about 40 soldiers, will have a captive power supply facility, central heating, and a sewage and waste disposal mechanism. They will have kitchens and round-the-clock water supply, which will be a vast improvement over the current situation.

The Army survey showed that most soldiers manning these posts were underweight, and lacking in motivation as a result of their poor living conditions. “Compared to the Chinese side, which has state-of-the-art facilities in its posts, the Indian soldiers were demotivated because of the primitive conditions in which they were living at such high altitudes,” said a top official involved with the process.

Following Saran’s observations, Defence Minister AK Antony formed a committee under the Defence Secretary to study the issue, which in turn created a group under the Vice-Chief of Army Staff to carry out a detailed survey. The committee continues to monitor the implementation of this project.

The survey also pointed out that no significant technological upgradation had been attempted at these posts for many years now. The group concluded that this was largely responsible for the poorer-than-expected combat-worthiness of troops at high altitude posts.

This set alarm bells ringing and senior officials from the Corps of Engineers were sent to Norway to examine how posts were set up and manned in the Arctic region. The team returned with technical suggestions that are now being adopted. Equipment, where needed, is being imported.