Army to get vigilance wing to curb scams: Gen VK Singh
New Delhi: Stung by a series of land scams and corruption cases, the Indian Army is now planning to set up an internal vigilance wing to keep a tab on its men and prevent such instances from recurring.
Army Chief General V.K. Singh said at the annual Army Day-eve press conference on Friday that one of his thrust areas since he took over office on March 31 last year was 'improving the internal health' of the force to stop corruption among its personnel.
"Though this (internal health) is a very vast subject, what we are looking for is a vigilance mechanism. We do not have this (vigilance) in the Army. We now looking at having one. Of course, we do take suo motu action on a lot of issues (corruption and scams) that come up," Singh said.
He was replying to a question on the numerous land scams and the action he had taken in the last nine months as army chief on improving the internal health of the force.
On the action against his predecessor, Gen. Deepak Kapoor, whose name figures in the last three land scams that the Army has faced, the army chief said that the former being a retired officer, the cases have been handed over to the defence ministry for appropriate action.
Kapoor's name figures in the Sukna episode in West Bengal, the Adarsh Housing Society in Colaba and and land adjacent to the Central Ordnance Depot Kandivali being handed over to a private developer. The last two cases are in Mumbai.
"We (the Army) do not have the means to do investigation on these matters, such as checking out some bank accounts. The defence ministry will decide on the action needed in these cases," Singh said.
With regard to serving officers involved in the Adarsh Housing Society episode, he said the Army would initiate action against them as per the service rules and the army law. "We have a legal system in the army which will take care of this," he added.
To a query if he would be the first army chief to declare his assets in the public domain and set a precedent for others to follow, Singh said there existed an internal system under which officers filed their movable and immovable property returns every year and on all occasions when they bought or sold property.
"I am sure at some point in time, the assets details of serving officers will come into the public domain," he said indicating he would not mind such open declaration of his property details.
In the last two years, the Army has been hit by a series of land scams beginning with the Sukna military station in West Bengal, Adarsh Housing Society in Colaba in 2009 and Central Ordnance Depot land in Kandivalli.
In all these cases, army officers had given No-Objection Certificates (NOCs) to private builders to construct educational institution or highrise housing complex.
Taking note of these instances, Defence Minister A.K. Antony had announced Thursday that his ministry would make stricter rules for NOCs so that lower level officers could not misuse it and that the Defence Estates land would be computerised for maintaining proper records.
Army to get vigilance wing to curb scams: Gen VK Singh
Showing posts with label Ordnance Depots. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ordnance Depots. Show all posts
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Are Generals compromising quality of weapons, equipment and food supplies?
'Five-star culture of senior officers is bad for Army'Saira Kurup, Nov 7, 2010, 05.01am IST
He was the first head of the UN peacekeeping force in the former Yugoslavia. That was 1992. Two years later, Lieutenant General Satish Nambiar, 74, retired as deputy Chief of Army Staff. But this highly decorated officer still remains intensely engaged with military affairs. He talked Army pride, probity and the disturbing rise of a "five-star culture" with Saira Kurup. Excerpts:
As a distinguished retired officer of the Indian Army, how do you react to the alleged involvement of top serving and retired Army officers in the Adarsh building scam?
Without being unfair to the people concerned or to the establishment that I had the great privilege of serving for many years, I must say that it is an issue that causes all of us a great deal of anguish. One accepts that moral values have taken a beating in society in general. But it is disturbing to find that this degeneration has found its way into the armed forces too. Particularly because the armed forces are a unique institution in many ways; in which, quite often as leaders in battle, we ask of our subordinates the ultimate sacrifice in terms of their lives. Hence their trust and faith in us is something you cannot quantify or compromise. While on the one hand, young officers and men of the Indian Army have literally sacrificed their lives in ensuring the security of the country, on the other hand, we have sections of the senior leadership indulging in actions that bring shame on the organization.
Your son is a lieutenant-colonel. Might this scam affect the morale of relatively young officers like him?
The morale of the young officers and the men is not so easily affected because there is a great deal of resilience in the armed forces as an institution. But that is not to suggest there is no impact. Unfortunately in recent years there is already a disturbing five-star culture among the senior officers to which they have already been exposed and to that extent, I presume they are not too surprised. My advice to the current leadership in the armed forces would be to refocus on and promote the basic character qualities of integrity, loyalty to subordinates and courage. Moral values that sustain you in battle. This issue assumes wider ramifications when we hear of senior leaders falling prey to compromises on the quality of weapons, equipment and food supplies for the men in the Army.
Read more: 'Five-star culture of senior officers is bad for Army' - The Times of India Click here
Monday, September 6, 2010
Where’s the defence industry?
By Shailesh Dobhal , 05/09/2010
The Indian automobile industry is the seventh largest, and the second fastest growing in the world after China. Its auto components manufacturers are globally competitive, and every manner of automaker is already here or is in the process of setting up a base here.
Even till early 1980s, the country was an auto backwater, with just about a handful of manufacturers. The industry maturing followed, in a manner of speaking, the market. With domestic demand for anything from two-wheelers and cars to light and heavy commercial vehicles exploding in the last two decades, India has emerged as the global small car hub, and a big exporter of both finished cars and components.
In the last six years, while production doubled, from 7 million to 14 million, exports more than tripled, 0.5 million to 1.8 million last fiscal.
A big consumer market for cellphones made the world's biggest cellphone maker Nokia set up its largest manufacturing plant here, to meet the domestic requirements as well as to build an export base. The story of a big and growing domestic market spawning a vibrant domestic industry repeats itself with consistency across sectors -- apparels, consumer expendables, packaged food, pharmaceuticals, etc.
In fact, it is difficult to think of any industry sector where a huge domestic market is not a prelude to a vibrant domestic industry. Perhaps, only in God-gifted natural resources like oil, gas and minerals can a country be a big consumer and a big importer at the same time. Can there be any other such exceptions?
Well yes, if you consider the country's experience with defence equipment like submarines, ships, fighter planes and artillery guns. India is one the world's biggest consumer of defence equipment, having spent $50 billion in the last 10 years and estimates of over $100 billion in the next decade or so.
And historically we have relied on imports to fulfil over two-thirds of this requirement, as the public sector monopoly of DRDO, 8 PSUs and 39 ordnance factories have failed us squarely. Our defence exports are pathetic, even compared to other big arms importers like South Korea and Singapore. For every dollar worth of export of defence equipment, India imports $200 worth, compared to $20 for Singapore and under $9 for Korea.
Even after almost a decade of opening up of private participation and 26% foreign investment, just about 130 companies have entered the fray, and very little foreign funds have flowed in. Now the defence industry is a sensitive, highly technological one, with governments and graft never far from the scene. And you can't exactly extend the arguments of the plebeian cars and cellphones industry to as highly geo-strategic sector as defence, goes one argument.
Well, maybe not, but the logic of the market is finally inexplicable -- one who pays the piper calls the tune. True, existing big boys of the global arms club will hold back the change, and foreign governments will withhold cutting-edge technologies and newer versions for itself. But purchasing power has to be leveraged to change the old order, and a beginning has to be made somewhere.
Consider what China is doing. The authors of a paper, Leveraging Defence Offset Policy for Technology Acquisition, in the Journal of Defence Studies, January 2009, argue that China is launching its large civilian aircraft industry on an aggressive leverage of transfer of production technology from other countries in the form of outsourcing and offsets, primarily from the US and other aerospace companies.
So why can't India? The reasons are not hard to find. Our much touted defence procurement policy, which inter alia provides for an offset policy, is somewhat unclear in its objectives. The 4-year-old 'Offset Policy' requires a foreign arms vendor winning a contract of more than Rs 300 crore to offset a minimum 30% of this value in the domestic market through purchase of products/services from Indian companies or investments in setting up a joint venture with an Indian partner.
Already, in the absence of a robust monitoring mechanism, some experts have started flagging offsets as the country's next big scam in the making, with unscrupulous foreign vendors using it as a means for kickbacks.
Best practices in offset management can be gleaned from countries like Israel and South Korea that have used it to kickstart their domestic industries. Israel's offset policy explicitly emphasises acquisition of technology and not the product, for that alone can have a technology spillover effect that can spawn related ancillary industries, the backbone for all big manufacturing successes.
Ditto South Korea, where the approval of the offset contract is subject to the foreign arms vendor assuring 'approval' of technology transfer to the importing country.
Or take the example of Saudi Arabia. It realises that some cutting-edge technologies won't be shared or transferred and therefore its offset programme has evolved to harness commercially exploitable (transferred) technology, which has helped its offset-related domestic industry to already clock in billions in export sales.
Gunnar Eliasson, a professor of industrial economics at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, in his recently released book, Advanced Public Procurement as Industrial Policy, argues that there are four waves of spillovers of any technology, such as fighter aircraft manufacturing -- core, related, engineering and industrial technologies.
The value for country procuring high technology-led armaments is how its organises its industrial systems' absorptive capacity to leverages on such spillovers that can have long-term economic benefits in terms of spawning related industries, dual-usage commercial technologies.
Our offsets system, which has become virtually a government dictait-led windfall for big and small domestic players alike, should instead strive to create a defence industrial ecosystem of technology absorption, assimilation and innovation.
Source:Financial Express
Where’s the defence industry?
The Indian automobile industry is the seventh largest, and the second fastest growing in the world after China. Its auto components manufacturers are globally competitive, and every manner of automaker is already here or is in the process of setting up a base here.
Even till early 1980s, the country was an auto backwater, with just about a handful of manufacturers. The industry maturing followed, in a manner of speaking, the market. With domestic demand for anything from two-wheelers and cars to light and heavy commercial vehicles exploding in the last two decades, India has emerged as the global small car hub, and a big exporter of both finished cars and components.
In the last six years, while production doubled, from 7 million to 14 million, exports more than tripled, 0.5 million to 1.8 million last fiscal.
A big consumer market for cellphones made the world's biggest cellphone maker Nokia set up its largest manufacturing plant here, to meet the domestic requirements as well as to build an export base. The story of a big and growing domestic market spawning a vibrant domestic industry repeats itself with consistency across sectors -- apparels, consumer expendables, packaged food, pharmaceuticals, etc.
In fact, it is difficult to think of any industry sector where a huge domestic market is not a prelude to a vibrant domestic industry. Perhaps, only in God-gifted natural resources like oil, gas and minerals can a country be a big consumer and a big importer at the same time. Can there be any other such exceptions?
Well yes, if you consider the country's experience with defence equipment like submarines, ships, fighter planes and artillery guns. India is one the world's biggest consumer of defence equipment, having spent $50 billion in the last 10 years and estimates of over $100 billion in the next decade or so.
And historically we have relied on imports to fulfil over two-thirds of this requirement, as the public sector monopoly of DRDO, 8 PSUs and 39 ordnance factories have failed us squarely. Our defence exports are pathetic, even compared to other big arms importers like South Korea and Singapore. For every dollar worth of export of defence equipment, India imports $200 worth, compared to $20 for Singapore and under $9 for Korea.
Even after almost a decade of opening up of private participation and 26% foreign investment, just about 130 companies have entered the fray, and very little foreign funds have flowed in. Now the defence industry is a sensitive, highly technological one, with governments and graft never far from the scene. And you can't exactly extend the arguments of the plebeian cars and cellphones industry to as highly geo-strategic sector as defence, goes one argument.
Well, maybe not, but the logic of the market is finally inexplicable -- one who pays the piper calls the tune. True, existing big boys of the global arms club will hold back the change, and foreign governments will withhold cutting-edge technologies and newer versions for itself. But purchasing power has to be leveraged to change the old order, and a beginning has to be made somewhere.
Consider what China is doing. The authors of a paper, Leveraging Defence Offset Policy for Technology Acquisition, in the Journal of Defence Studies, January 2009, argue that China is launching its large civilian aircraft industry on an aggressive leverage of transfer of production technology from other countries in the form of outsourcing and offsets, primarily from the US and other aerospace companies.
So why can't India? The reasons are not hard to find. Our much touted defence procurement policy, which inter alia provides for an offset policy, is somewhat unclear in its objectives. The 4-year-old 'Offset Policy' requires a foreign arms vendor winning a contract of more than Rs 300 crore to offset a minimum 30% of this value in the domestic market through purchase of products/services from Indian companies or investments in setting up a joint venture with an Indian partner.
Already, in the absence of a robust monitoring mechanism, some experts have started flagging offsets as the country's next big scam in the making, with unscrupulous foreign vendors using it as a means for kickbacks.
Best practices in offset management can be gleaned from countries like Israel and South Korea that have used it to kickstart their domestic industries. Israel's offset policy explicitly emphasises acquisition of technology and not the product, for that alone can have a technology spillover effect that can spawn related ancillary industries, the backbone for all big manufacturing successes.
Ditto South Korea, where the approval of the offset contract is subject to the foreign arms vendor assuring 'approval' of technology transfer to the importing country.
Or take the example of Saudi Arabia. It realises that some cutting-edge technologies won't be shared or transferred and therefore its offset programme has evolved to harness commercially exploitable (transferred) technology, which has helped its offset-related domestic industry to already clock in billions in export sales.
Gunnar Eliasson, a professor of industrial economics at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, in his recently released book, Advanced Public Procurement as Industrial Policy, argues that there are four waves of spillovers of any technology, such as fighter aircraft manufacturing -- core, related, engineering and industrial technologies.
The value for country procuring high technology-led armaments is how its organises its industrial systems' absorptive capacity to leverages on such spillovers that can have long-term economic benefits in terms of spawning related industries, dual-usage commercial technologies.
Our offsets system, which has become virtually a government dictait-led windfall for big and small domestic players alike, should instead strive to create a defence industrial ecosystem of technology absorption, assimilation and innovation.
Source:Financial Express
Where’s the defence industry?
Monday, July 12, 2010
Ordnance Factories jeopardise the combat effectiveness of the Army
Press Trust Of India
Posted on Jul 07, 2010 at 15:32 IBN Live
New Delhi: The CBI has asked the Defence Ministry to blacklist six firms, including four international ones, for their alleged involvement in the Ordnance Factory Board scam. Official sources said the names of four international companies -- Singapore Technologies Kinetics (STK), Israel Military Industries Ltd (IMI), Rheinmetall Air Defence (RAD), Zurich, and Cooperation Defence, Russia -- are mentioned in the letter by the CBI to the Defence Ministry.
Besides, two Indian firms -- T S Kisan and Companies Pvt Ltd (New Delhi) and R K Machines Tools Ltd (Ludhiana) -- have also been named in the CBI communique to the MoD sent earlier this week, they said. The action came after agency sleuths investigating the case found alleged involvement of these firms in the scandal.
The agency had on June 30 filed a 2,700-page chargesheet in a special CBI court, Kolkata, against former Director General of Ordnance factory Board, Sudipta Ghosh and 11 others for graft. A case was registered by CBI on May 17, 2009 under different Sections of IPC and Prevention of the Corruption Act against Ghosh and others. It was alleged that Ghosh had entered into criminal conspiracy with other accused with the object of demanding and obtaining huge illegal gratification in the matter of various supply orders placed by Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) and also in the matters relating to transfer or posting of the officers of Ordnance Factories.
Following registration of case and subsequent probe, the CBI had arrested Ghosh and others. "During searches conducted by CBI, cash amounting to approximately Rs 1.41 crore was seized from the residences and bank lockers of the former DG and his wife. Another Rs 1.14 crore was recovered from the premises of other accused persons," CBI spokesperson Harsh Bhal had said. The chargesheet has named Ghosh and his wife Kajal Ghosh, Ramesh Nambiar, then additional GM (Sports) Air India, J K Thapar, director of T S Kishan and Companies Private Ltd, Satish Mahajan, director and Sunil Handa, manager of R K Machines Tools Ltd, Ludhiana.
Former statistical investigator of National Sample Survey Organisation, J K Grover, two private firms T S Kisan & Company Private Limited, New Delhi and R K Machines Tool Limited, Ludhiana, chairman of Mokul Group of Companies Mohinder Singh Sahni and two private persons -- Ashish Bose and Pradeep Rana -- were also named in the charge sheet. The matter will be heard on July 31 by a Kolkata court. According to CBI, the modus operandi of Ghosh was that he used to habitually negotiate bribes with domestic and foreign suppliers of defence equipment to the Ordnance factories through his conduit (Ashish Bose). Three separate cases were also registered by CBI against Ghosh, Nambiar and Grover for possessing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income.
CBI asks Defence Ministry to blacklist 6 firms
Posted on Jul 07, 2010 at 15:32 IBN Live
New Delhi: The CBI has asked the Defence Ministry to blacklist six firms, including four international ones, for their alleged involvement in the Ordnance Factory Board scam. Official sources said the names of four international companies -- Singapore Technologies Kinetics (STK), Israel Military Industries Ltd (IMI), Rheinmetall Air Defence (RAD), Zurich, and Cooperation Defence, Russia -- are mentioned in the letter by the CBI to the Defence Ministry.
Besides, two Indian firms -- T S Kisan and Companies Pvt Ltd (New Delhi) and R K Machines Tools Ltd (Ludhiana) -- have also been named in the CBI communique to the MoD sent earlier this week, they said. The action came after agency sleuths investigating the case found alleged involvement of these firms in the scandal.
The agency had on June 30 filed a 2,700-page chargesheet in a special CBI court, Kolkata, against former Director General of Ordnance factory Board, Sudipta Ghosh and 11 others for graft. A case was registered by CBI on May 17, 2009 under different Sections of IPC and Prevention of the Corruption Act against Ghosh and others. It was alleged that Ghosh had entered into criminal conspiracy with other accused with the object of demanding and obtaining huge illegal gratification in the matter of various supply orders placed by Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) and also in the matters relating to transfer or posting of the officers of Ordnance Factories.
Following registration of case and subsequent probe, the CBI had arrested Ghosh and others. "During searches conducted by CBI, cash amounting to approximately Rs 1.41 crore was seized from the residences and bank lockers of the former DG and his wife. Another Rs 1.14 crore was recovered from the premises of other accused persons," CBI spokesperson Harsh Bhal had said. The chargesheet has named Ghosh and his wife Kajal Ghosh, Ramesh Nambiar, then additional GM (Sports) Air India, J K Thapar, director of T S Kishan and Companies Private Ltd, Satish Mahajan, director and Sunil Handa, manager of R K Machines Tools Ltd, Ludhiana.
Former statistical investigator of National Sample Survey Organisation, J K Grover, two private firms T S Kisan & Company Private Limited, New Delhi and R K Machines Tool Limited, Ludhiana, chairman of Mokul Group of Companies Mohinder Singh Sahni and two private persons -- Ashish Bose and Pradeep Rana -- were also named in the charge sheet. The matter will be heard on July 31 by a Kolkata court. According to CBI, the modus operandi of Ghosh was that he used to habitually negotiate bribes with domestic and foreign suppliers of defence equipment to the Ordnance factories through his conduit (Ashish Bose). Three separate cases were also registered by CBI against Ghosh, Nambiar and Grover for possessing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income.
CBI asks Defence Ministry to blacklist 6 firms
Sunday, April 20, 2008
No longer Matter of Honour
In times of danger, not before,
God and soldiers all men adore.
Danger's past and all is righted,
God's forgotten, the soldier slighted. Harold Y Grooms
Apolitical ethos
The appointment of three IAS men to look into the injustice done to the Defence Services is typical of the way in which our Services have been subjugated since independence. Govt can of course point out that the Defence Secretary is there to look out for their interests but, as this article will bring out, he heads the Department that has consistently undermined the defence forces for 60 years. That the Forces have survived this invidious onslaught and yet remained apolitical is a tribute to their patriotism and grit. But will the Services emerge unscathed from this latest effort to mete out 'justice'?. Readers may judge for themselves.
Doctors discriminated
One example will suffice to support this contention. The 5Th Pay Commission (PC) conceded that Non Practising Allowance (NPA) paid to Govt doctors be counted as pay while computing pension entitlements. However, subsequently orders were issued to recover the 'excess' pension paid to pre-'96 retirees. Thereupon, most retired doctors' associations filed cases in various High Courts, a majority of which were upheld. The Central Govt went in appeal to the Supreme Court who issued notice to the concerned departments. Instead of filing their responses however, major Departments – notably, Railways and Health – withdrew their cases and allowed NPA- pension to their old pensioners. The Defence Ministry however, has continued the litigation to deny this to Defence Doctors– the only group singled out for discrimination.
Degrading defence services
This endeavour to steadily degrade the Forces explains why no representation of the Central Govt's largest employees has ever been allowed on any of the PCs, leave alone conceding the just demand for a separate Defence PC. What hope can the Services have when even some of the anomalies of previous PCs remain unresolved.
Bureaucratic strangle
That the 6th PC has brought defence officers down two notches below their civilian equivalents vis-à-vis the 5th PC has been extensively covered in the media. What is not widely appreciated is the complete stranglehold that various bureaucratic departments of the MoD have established over the military – imperilling the nation's security, in the bargain.
Poor quality armaments
Ours is perhaps the only major Military with no say in the production and quality of indigenous defence ammunition and equipment. On 20 March 2008, during war- games showcased before foreign military attaches, a mortar bomb exploded in the barrel and killed three crew members. Dismissing the incident, a defence spokesman stated that such incidents occur routinely. Since a bore- safety device in the bombs fuse is designed to prevent in- barrel detonations, worldwide such accidents are extremely rare. In 1995, after an alarming frequency of accidents, Army managed to convene a meeting with Defence Production bureaucrats. It emerged that the Ammunition Factories had contrived to prevent the DGQA from inspecting the quality of their product! Further, they had no procedure to guarantee that the bore- safety device had in fact been fitted. Even after these shameful disclosures, they managed to evade independent quality assurance.
Substandard four wheelers
In this turf war between two Defence Production departments, the lives of our jawans remain imperilled. Even where the DGQA is active, the quality of Ordnance Factories remains shocking. Jabalpur Vehicle Factory- made Jonga was another killing machine. Used mostly in mountains, its rear wheel was notorious for coming- off on bends, sending servicemen hurtling into the khud. The author had two providential escapes from this death- trap.
Defence procurement sans sanity
The Military has virtually no say in these grave matters. Defence procurement is the third area where Defence pleas go unheard for decades. The import of surveillance radar was held up for thirty years because DRDO was 'developing' it. Another item was illuminating shells for our field gun. DRDO had wasted twenty years in 'development'. Result: we were totally blind at night. In 1996, MoD was requested to import 2% of our requirement of illuminating shells and let balance 98% come from indigenous production whenever DRDO's reverse- engineering succeeded. Joint Secretary, MoD chaired the meeting which, apart from two army officers, a DRDO official attended. As we presented our case, it became apparent that the two civilians had connived to turn down the plea. It took the Kargil war for importing night- fighting equipment on a 'war-footing' (sic). In fact, then Army Chief stated, 'We will fight with what we have'. Back to 1962! Due to these voids, 700 young Indian lives were sacrificed, but nothing disturbed the slumber of the two bureaucrats. Recent changes in the procurement structure only meet the problem half- way. Wielding authority without responsibility is Indian babudom's special invention.
Kargil aggression
Except for a brief interregnum when the forces were reasonably adequately equipped was post 1965 till the early '70s. Thereafter the neglect started once again and a deaf and blind bureaucracy awoke with a shock to the poor state of equipment when faced with the Kargil aggression. We did, but paid the price in terms of the blood of too many young lives snuffed out at the alter of crass neglect and utter irresponsibility of the Govt. Did any bureaucrat who had held up urgent defence procurements accept responsibility? Did any of the well- heeled fat cats of the Ordnance Factories Board or MoD (Production) own up responsibility for shortfalls in ammunition and equipment with the troops fighting in the icy altitudes of 16000 t0 19000 feet? We all know the answers - a resounding NO.
Auditors become military stategists
Defence auditors are another entity who enjoy exercising authority without responsibility. Their ignorance of matters military is the stuff of countless jokes among servicemen. Undaunted, they venture to offer inane objections to most proposals. The Tribune recently carried an article by the former Deputy Chief of Defence Planning Staff highlighting the fallacies in objections raised to the USS Trenton acquisition. One was amazed to read the observations which an accountant had ventured to put forward to naval professionals who had spent upwards of two or more decades in maturing their expertise. Of course, as is often the case, when these objections delay or thwart important modernisation proposals, it impinges on defence capability and ceases to be a joking matter. They simply need to be told where to get off!
Cost of neglect
It is well known that India's ruling elite remains entirely innocent of strategic matters. Consequently, our external and internal security environments are the most perilous of all major nations. The deterioration commenced with the 1947- 48 J&K war and India continues to suffer the fallout of holding back the Army when within an ace of ejecting the Pakis from the entire State. The 1962 debacle again underlined Nehru's ineptitude in defence of the Republic. When Indira Gandhi heeded Manekshaw's professional advice India won a famous victory in 1971.
Security decisions
Thereafter, the string of catastrophic security decisions resumed, leaving the Military to repeatedly pull the chestnuts out of resulting fires. The 1972 Simla agreement gave away all the gains of the war with no implementable solution of the Kashmir issue. Similarly, release of JeM-founder Masood Azhar for Kandahar-hostages directly resulted in the attack on Parliament. The ill-considered decision to respond with Op Parakram, only to pull back, destroyed the credibility of our deterrent capability. The lack of institutionalised professional military inputs at the policy- level is unique to our democracy. The resultant continuous operational exposure has put a huge strain on our personnel, for which the 6Th PC has failed to compensate them.
Skewed decision making process
Contrast this with other major nations. China's PLA is represented at the highest Party and Govt echelons. In USA, one Presidential aspirant is a veteran. In UK, Prince Harry's Afghanistan foray needs no recounting. Name one prominent Indian bureaucrat or politician with a son in the Forces. None comes readily to mind. If Govt does not possess the requisite insights into the special conditions of the Defence Services, what prevents them from integrating professional inputs into decision- making that critically affects servicemen.
Sixth Pay Commission the last straw
Before the '62 war, someone brought to Nehru's attention, the utter inferiority of the Army's weaponry. He replied in lofty disdain, 'It is the man behind the gun that matters'. This famed Indian 'yodha' has lived up to his lofty ideals of 'Naam, Namak, Nishan' despite all the neglect and indignities of the past 60 years. Will the 6Th PC be the last straw that breaks this fine spirit?
Officers now seeking to leave the Forces in droves, makes one fear the worst.
Maj Gen Pushpendra Singh (Retd)
God and soldiers all men adore.
Danger's past and all is righted,
God's forgotten, the soldier slighted. Harold Y Grooms
Apolitical ethos
The appointment of three IAS men to look into the injustice done to the Defence Services is typical of the way in which our Services have been subjugated since independence. Govt can of course point out that the Defence Secretary is there to look out for their interests but, as this article will bring out, he heads the Department that has consistently undermined the defence forces for 60 years. That the Forces have survived this invidious onslaught and yet remained apolitical is a tribute to their patriotism and grit. But will the Services emerge unscathed from this latest effort to mete out 'justice'?. Readers may judge for themselves.
Doctors discriminated
One example will suffice to support this contention. The 5Th Pay Commission (PC) conceded that Non Practising Allowance (NPA) paid to Govt doctors be counted as pay while computing pension entitlements. However, subsequently orders were issued to recover the 'excess' pension paid to pre-'96 retirees. Thereupon, most retired doctors' associations filed cases in various High Courts, a majority of which were upheld. The Central Govt went in appeal to the Supreme Court who issued notice to the concerned departments. Instead of filing their responses however, major Departments – notably, Railways and Health – withdrew their cases and allowed NPA- pension to their old pensioners. The Defence Ministry however, has continued the litigation to deny this to Defence Doctors– the only group singled out for discrimination.
Degrading defence services
This endeavour to steadily degrade the Forces explains why no representation of the Central Govt's largest employees has ever been allowed on any of the PCs, leave alone conceding the just demand for a separate Defence PC. What hope can the Services have when even some of the anomalies of previous PCs remain unresolved.
Bureaucratic strangle
That the 6th PC has brought defence officers down two notches below their civilian equivalents vis-à-vis the 5th PC has been extensively covered in the media. What is not widely appreciated is the complete stranglehold that various bureaucratic departments of the MoD have established over the military – imperilling the nation's security, in the bargain.
Poor quality armaments
Ours is perhaps the only major Military with no say in the production and quality of indigenous defence ammunition and equipment. On 20 March 2008, during war- games showcased before foreign military attaches, a mortar bomb exploded in the barrel and killed three crew members. Dismissing the incident, a defence spokesman stated that such incidents occur routinely. Since a bore- safety device in the bombs fuse is designed to prevent in- barrel detonations, worldwide such accidents are extremely rare. In 1995, after an alarming frequency of accidents, Army managed to convene a meeting with Defence Production bureaucrats. It emerged that the Ammunition Factories had contrived to prevent the DGQA from inspecting the quality of their product! Further, they had no procedure to guarantee that the bore- safety device had in fact been fitted. Even after these shameful disclosures, they managed to evade independent quality assurance.
Substandard four wheelers
In this turf war between two Defence Production departments, the lives of our jawans remain imperilled. Even where the DGQA is active, the quality of Ordnance Factories remains shocking. Jabalpur Vehicle Factory- made Jonga was another killing machine. Used mostly in mountains, its rear wheel was notorious for coming- off on bends, sending servicemen hurtling into the khud. The author had two providential escapes from this death- trap.
Defence procurement sans sanity
The Military has virtually no say in these grave matters. Defence procurement is the third area where Defence pleas go unheard for decades. The import of surveillance radar was held up for thirty years because DRDO was 'developing' it. Another item was illuminating shells for our field gun. DRDO had wasted twenty years in 'development'. Result: we were totally blind at night. In 1996, MoD was requested to import 2% of our requirement of illuminating shells and let balance 98% come from indigenous production whenever DRDO's reverse- engineering succeeded. Joint Secretary, MoD chaired the meeting which, apart from two army officers, a DRDO official attended. As we presented our case, it became apparent that the two civilians had connived to turn down the plea. It took the Kargil war for importing night- fighting equipment on a 'war-footing' (sic). In fact, then Army Chief stated, 'We will fight with what we have'. Back to 1962! Due to these voids, 700 young Indian lives were sacrificed, but nothing disturbed the slumber of the two bureaucrats. Recent changes in the procurement structure only meet the problem half- way. Wielding authority without responsibility is Indian babudom's special invention.
Kargil aggression
Except for a brief interregnum when the forces were reasonably adequately equipped was post 1965 till the early '70s. Thereafter the neglect started once again and a deaf and blind bureaucracy awoke with a shock to the poor state of equipment when faced with the Kargil aggression. We did, but paid the price in terms of the blood of too many young lives snuffed out at the alter of crass neglect and utter irresponsibility of the Govt. Did any bureaucrat who had held up urgent defence procurements accept responsibility? Did any of the well- heeled fat cats of the Ordnance Factories Board or MoD (Production) own up responsibility for shortfalls in ammunition and equipment with the troops fighting in the icy altitudes of 16000 t0 19000 feet? We all know the answers - a resounding NO.
Auditors become military stategists
Defence auditors are another entity who enjoy exercising authority without responsibility. Their ignorance of matters military is the stuff of countless jokes among servicemen. Undaunted, they venture to offer inane objections to most proposals. The Tribune recently carried an article by the former Deputy Chief of Defence Planning Staff highlighting the fallacies in objections raised to the USS Trenton acquisition. One was amazed to read the observations which an accountant had ventured to put forward to naval professionals who had spent upwards of two or more decades in maturing their expertise. Of course, as is often the case, when these objections delay or thwart important modernisation proposals, it impinges on defence capability and ceases to be a joking matter. They simply need to be told where to get off!
Cost of neglect
It is well known that India's ruling elite remains entirely innocent of strategic matters. Consequently, our external and internal security environments are the most perilous of all major nations. The deterioration commenced with the 1947- 48 J&K war and India continues to suffer the fallout of holding back the Army when within an ace of ejecting the Pakis from the entire State. The 1962 debacle again underlined Nehru's ineptitude in defence of the Republic. When Indira Gandhi heeded Manekshaw's professional advice India won a famous victory in 1971.
Security decisions
Thereafter, the string of catastrophic security decisions resumed, leaving the Military to repeatedly pull the chestnuts out of resulting fires. The 1972 Simla agreement gave away all the gains of the war with no implementable solution of the Kashmir issue. Similarly, release of JeM-founder Masood Azhar for Kandahar-hostages directly resulted in the attack on Parliament. The ill-considered decision to respond with Op Parakram, only to pull back, destroyed the credibility of our deterrent capability. The lack of institutionalised professional military inputs at the policy- level is unique to our democracy. The resultant continuous operational exposure has put a huge strain on our personnel, for which the 6Th PC has failed to compensate them.
Skewed decision making process
Contrast this with other major nations. China's PLA is represented at the highest Party and Govt echelons. In USA, one Presidential aspirant is a veteran. In UK, Prince Harry's Afghanistan foray needs no recounting. Name one prominent Indian bureaucrat or politician with a son in the Forces. None comes readily to mind. If Govt does not possess the requisite insights into the special conditions of the Defence Services, what prevents them from integrating professional inputs into decision- making that critically affects servicemen.
Sixth Pay Commission the last straw
Before the '62 war, someone brought to Nehru's attention, the utter inferiority of the Army's weaponry. He replied in lofty disdain, 'It is the man behind the gun that matters'. This famed Indian 'yodha' has lived up to his lofty ideals of 'Naam, Namak, Nishan' despite all the neglect and indignities of the past 60 years. Will the 6Th PC be the last straw that breaks this fine spirit?
Officers now seeking to leave the Forces in droves, makes one fear the worst.
Maj Gen Pushpendra Singh (Retd)
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