Regimental Funds and Canteens

This is just an idea with the aim of providing equitable benefit of canteen profits to all units in a station and a method to run canteens without involving combatants in peace stations    

All units and formation headquarters in the army have regimental funds for the welfare of troops and other expenses required for running units. The major source for regimental funds in most units and formations is canteen profits.
       Every unit, big or small therefore sets up a small(or large) unit run canteen wherever they are located, whether peace or field.  In field stations, it is accepted that sale will be limited to the soldiers serving in the unit during the tenure, and a few ex servicemen in the area, while in peace stations, everyone tries to maximise sale. This is because in peace stations, there are more mess parties, regimental 'barakhanas' and other events that involve expenditure. Add to this the long term trend of subsidizing the CO's or formation commander's existence through regimental funds (after all, they're institutions, and therefore, must live in luxury paid for by the unit or formation), and many a canteen officer is on the lookout to increase sales.
     One of the factors affecting canteen sales is location of a canteen. A unit located on a main road, near a shopping complex etc hits the jackpot and rings in the money on the canteen cash register. However, a unit located in the interiors of the military station or even a smaller unit often has to deal with poor sales(as even their own soldiers and their families patronize the better stocked canteens) and by extension, low incomes in their regimental funds. Many formation headquarters(often those with commanders or deputies whose personal 'requirements' are high) identify units which have well run, profitable canteens and force them to part with a share of the canteen profit through convenient 'policy' letters. In addition, large station canteens in most stations hog premium locations, special privileges and most of the profits, a share of which is not given to other units in the station. Most ex-servicemen are also 'allotted' to these station canteens, increasing the profits of these canteens.
      If each unit runs a canteen, each staffed with 2 to 3 soldiers, a big military station can easily have 150 to 200 men (thats two companies!) just running these ventures. This also leads to a CSD canteen existing in every corner of military stations, most selling the same limited inventory.
       Combat units and their commanders should preferably not get involved in running canteens and generating profits for their regimental funds. Its a facility provided to all military personnel and, if possible, it should be done without the involvement of combat unit personnel. At the same time, since these personnel patronize the canteens resulting in profits, a share of these profits should rightfully be shared with all these units. Due to the environment in operational areas, it is essential to run a unit canteen to provide basic items to soldiers, since military units are deployed in far flung areas and a station canteen as in peace stations is not practical.
 
     A different model of running canteens in peace stations could change the dynamics of handling and spending of canteen profits, and probably even overcome the restrictions placed by CAG recently.
All unit run canteens in peace stations should be amalgamated into station canteens (may be with multiple outlets in a military station spread over a large area). The size / turnover could be based n the number of dependant personnel in the station. These canteens could be manned and run by re-employed officers and staff under station headquarters / sub area. However, the profit generated by the canteen should be distributed among all units in the station, proportional to their authorised strength. No diversion of profits outside the station(to sub areas etc, other than a small fixed percentage from each station canteen) should be permitted. The success of this concept will  depend on equitable and fair distribution of profits between formation headquarters and units, preferably based on an army wide policy. The concept of unit run canteens in peace stations should then be done away with.
   
Advantages:
Combatant manpower in units is not tied down in canteen related duties.
Optimisation of effort in transporting stores and stocking canteens from the depots.
All units in the station will get a share of the station canteens profits based on their manpower. COs do not have to worry about generating funds for their units. If a certain canteen located in the station has high sales volumes, all units in the station will benefit from it.
A percentage of profits can be used to support welfare projects in the station. This fund can be diverted before dividing the profits among dependant units, and welfare centres can be set up in military stations with permanent staff, instead of expecting units and formation headquarters to provide funds and resources.
Formation headquarters will obviously receive a very small share of the profit unlike in the other system since their strength is smaller than a subunit's. This can be enhanced by a small percentage depending on the level of headquarters.
Misuse of canteen profits to fund unethical projects like furnishing appointment houses etc can be curbed through transparent accounting.
There will be no need to maintain canteen accounts in units in peace stations.
Station amenities like movie halls can be directly funded by adopting this method instead of asking units for subscription.
        and many more....
 
I'm sure there will be problems in adopting this system, but it could be developed into a viable model for managing canteens. Modifications could result in  good workable model that is also acceptable to all. So reply with your ideas!