India produces the finest Generals it possibly can

My Response to Ajay Shukla's "Wake Up Generals"... Click here
Dear Ajay,
(Ajay left the Army a few years ago as Lt Col/Col. He was in the Armd Corps I think)
I feel very very sad and disenchanted to read your article written for the Business Standard. You left the Army and became a journalist. Great. You have significant inside knowledge of the Army and the other two services. One thought you would use it to educate the Indian polity about National security matters, and not write trash as you have done in this article.
Let us try and imagine what will be the end effect of this article. Will it create better impression of our army in the minds of the general public, the politicians, the bureaucracy, the youngsters aspiring to join the Army. What about the negative effect on serving officers and men!!
Writing about how many people work in the Army House should be below the dignity of Ajay. How can a NDA/ IMA trained gentleman officer stoop so low!!
Also do you think this article would be considered a journalistic achievement of yours and raise your stock amongst the new fraternity you have chosen as a result of your second career!!
Ajay dear, I am from the 1st Course JSW/ NDA. Joined in Jan 1949. Have seen the Army since then. I have also seen the US Army/ Marine Corps some what. Worked with TATAs also. I see the Indian Army now. There are changes even since I retired in 1991 but let me inform you that these are more visible in peace areas. These are as a result of societal changes. The Army cannot be divorced from the rest of the nation. But in the field/ operational areas officers and soldiers are doing commendable job. You are fully aware that it is extremely difficult to rise in the Indian Army and one has to be really lucky in addition to having professional capabilities to pick up a flag rank.
I wrote this to the Shekhar Gupta after the most derogatory article published on the front page of the Indian Express a few weeks back.
THIS IS THE BEST GENERALS OUR COUNTRY CAN PRODUCE. INDIA HAS FOREIGN HOCKEY, CRICKET, BOXING COACHES. IF YOU OR THE NATION ARE NOT HAPPY WITH THE GENERALS, IMPORT THEM ALSO FROM FOREIGN COUNTRIES, ESPECIALLY ITALY!!
I would be happy if with your experience in the Army you can come out with some positive suggestions on how to improve the quality of our generals. Deep selection is no answer, as we Indians are experts in beating any system. Also every policy has its pros and cons!!
Whatever we do, we should not hand over the process to the politicians and the bureaucrats.
Ajay please please do not throw muck on the Army of which you are a product. Please do ponder over the ill effects.
Best wishes.
Lt Gen Harbhajan Singh (Retired)

NDA, IMA and OTA train military leaders
A General leads his men by his example. He expects his men to do their duty to the fullest extent of the word. He will send no man to do what he himself would not do of his own accord. He will enforce discipline, and will establish that he is in charge. He must never hold himself higher than a deity, or have his men treat him as such. He must approach warfare from many angles, being flexible direct or aggressive as the situation warrants. He must also not be afraid of losing everything. The General who does not commit himself fully to victory will lose without honour.

Wake up, generals! Stop this 5 star culture

by Ajai Shukla
Business Standard, 30th Oct 12
The Indian Army fish is rotting from the head. Memories are still fresh of the bruising confrontation earlier this year between the politically ambitious General VK Singh and an inept government that had precipitated a civil-military firestorm over the army chief’s quest for an extra year in office. Now, as Broadsword reports (Click here) another aggrieved general is going to court in his quest for the top job.
The current chief, General Bikram Singh, who took over from the divisive General VK Singh in June, has singularly failed to apply a healing touch and to undo the partisanship his predecessor unleashed. Most new bosses, even sports coaches, are expected to provide a new direction. In five months on the job, General Bikram Singh’s new direction consists only of orders that officers must greet each other with the salutation of “Jai Hind”, instead of merely giving each other the time of day. The new chief also wants meetings to end with everyone chorusing “Bharat Mata ki Jai”.
Intelligence reports have not yet confirmed that the Pakistani and Chinese militaries are quaking in their boots.
Let us be charitable; perhaps General Bikram Singh needs more time. His arrival in Delhi was traumatic and uncertain, since his predecessor assiduously sabotaged his elevation in the internecine fighting that now seems to be a part of the game. Once in Delhi, the new chief’s priority was to set himself up in the five-star style that now defines our culture of generalship. In his first days in the hallowed office of legends like General KC Thimayya and Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, the new chief and his staff busied themselves with putting together a retinue of a dozen waiters, cooks, dhobis and assorted tradesmen to sustain life in Army House.
Called upon for retainers, a bevy of army formations milked out these retainers from combat units, where tough young officers and the legendary Indian jawan have learned how to make do with the dwindling resources that their own generals leave them. At least two senior flag rank officers personally screened the men who would serve their chief, knowing that a spilt drink or over-salted soup could reverberate unpleasantly in their own careers.
The chief will naturally deny this since none of these tradesmen are officially posted to Army House, his tony residence on New Delhi’s leafy Rajaji Marg. Conveniently, this entourage is on “temporary duty” with army units in the capital. But any visitor to Army House would find them working there, just as visits to many army posts and picquets would find combat soldiers cooking and washing instead of training and patrolling, simply because their cook or dhobi is languishing in Delhi.
This travesty faces no resistance from subordinate generals, many of whom are hardly angels themselves. Lieutenant General Nobel Thamburaj, who headed the Southern Army, was arrested by the CBI for gross irregularities concerning defence land. Two army chiefs, Generals Deepak Kapoor and NC Vij, along with several army commanders, received illegal flats in Mumbai’s infamous Adarsh Housing Society. Lieutenant General Shankar Ghosh, the Western Army commander until June, had his medical category downgraded last year, entitling him to disability pension. But when General VK Singh’s confrontation with the government made dismissal a possibility, Ghosh (then the senior-most army commander) upgraded his medical category to be eligible for a move to Army House.
If the generals believe that these shenanigans go unnoticed by junior officers or the rank and file, they are mistaken. The recent face-offs between officers and enlisted men in military bases near Samba, Amritsar and Leh suggest a decline in the ironclad faith that the army jawan has always had in his leaders. Today’s culture of entitlement at the top, where funds, resources and manpower are poured into supporting the five-star lifestyles of a few dozen senior generals, threatens to seep downwards poisoning the entire system. It is difficult to remain idealistic, motivated and dead straight --- the defining characteristics of young Indian officers --- when so much wrongdoing is evident at the top. Even honest officers are inevitably corrupted by a system in which outright financial dishonesty is condoned as “perks and privileges of office”.
As worrying as the corruption is the lack of intellectual direction that generals provide the army’s young leaders. This was evident from the recent flood of chain emails between mid-level and junior officers, expressing outrage that the army was being blamed in the media for the 1962 debacle. In the intellectual desert that the generals have made the army, every red-blooded officer has bought into the “Haqeeqat myth”, in which gallant soldiers, badly deployed by incompetent politicians and bureaucrats, mowed down hordes of Chinese before laying down their lives. While this is true in several cases, there are many more cases of entire Indian sub-units fleeing from strong defensive positions into waiting Chinese ambushes. Any professional military studies its defeats even more deeply than its victories. But professional study is not on the army’s agenda. The generals believe that officers and men must be busy with creating the illusion of command success, howsoever transient. With no time to read or guidance and inspiration from the top, human development is merely a buzzword.
Preening incongruously amidst this crumbling edifice, General Bikram Singh has taken his media managers’ ill-considered advice that controversies are best dealt with by avoiding the press. General VK Singh’s mistake lay in seeking out the media say the same advisors who had advised the previous chief. But with controversy increasingly swirling, the army’s leadership can no longer deal with its growing image problem by sticking its head in the sand.
Generals Wake Up!

How a President treats his Armed Forces Personnel

US Coast Guard Academy Commencement:President's Address
Sir,
You may like to publish the following in the RMS blog.
I am currently in the USA and watched with interest the "Commencement" (Graduation) ceremony of the US Coast Guard Academy, located in Connecticut, attended by the US President Barak Obama on the NBC TV on May 18 and also read the report in the state newspaper "The Hartford Courant". Brought up in the Indian ethos, many things struck me as unusual and worth sharing with IESM community.
The President was very informal during the ceremony and while delivering the speech, made some humorous remarks. He shook hands with all the 220 odd cadets, some of whom even hugged him! (Indian VIPs would stay at least 100 feet clear of Indian Defence Academy cadets to preserve their dignity and status).
He said in his speech," The graduates would soon join a military and intelligence community that made sure "the terrorist leader who attacked us on 9/11 will never threaten America again... We remember our moral compass that we are citizens with obligations to each other... that we rise and fall as one". (For Indian VIPs, only the servicemen have to have moral compass and obligations and none for the others).
Obama continued a presidential tradition when he jokingly absolved the cadets of any outstanding "minor" infractions. He also gave special acknowledgments to graduate Jennifer Proctor, who attended Obama's old high school in Honolulu, and Melissa McCafferty, the recipient of the academy's third Truman Scholarship, saying... "Where is Melissa, let me embarrass you" scanning the crowd.
I felt it is "Them and Us!".
Regards,
Shashank Bendre
Wg.Cdr.(Retd)

CAG raps IAF: UPA trying to drill austerity into the Military

NEW DELHI: At a time when the ruling UPA is trying hard to drill home the message of austerity among its ministers, it seems the government may have to work even harder to convince the services to toe the line. In a stark example of the taxpayer's money being splurged on personal travel, it has come the light that the Indian Air Force spent crores converting eight of its topline aircraft AN-32, meant to carry troops and transport arms and ammunition, for VIP travel. While no VIP travelled in the aircraft, these were used by armed service officers, their wives and defence ministry officials.

Shockingly, these aircraft were converted for use by VIPs- meaning the President, PM and Vice-President- despite IAF already having a fleet for this purpose which was underutilized by as much as 63%. In five years between 2002 and 2007, IAF spent Rs 75 crore operating these modified AN-32s, mainly for personal purposes by Other Entitled Persons (OEPs).

These are the findings of the government's official auditor, Comptroller and Auditor General. The Public Accounts Committee, which also looked into the issue and submitted its report to Parliament during the budget session, has asked IAF to immediately restore all the eight AN-32s for operational purposes and not divert any service aircraft for other use, sources said.

In its report, the PAC said it was "surprised" that these aircraft were used by the presidents of wives' associations of the armed forces, who clearly weren't covered under the category of OEPs.

The committee has sought to know how much was spent on the travel of non-entitled persons in these aircraft. It has also recommended a ministerial probe into the matter and sought a report within three months on the steps taken to prevent such misuse in future.

The CAG audit had revealed that of the 104 AN-32 that the forces had, only 50% were fit for operational use. Yet, the top brass had allowed conversion and modification of its frontline aircraft. IAF had purchased 118 AN-32 between 1984 and 1991. Of these, 14 had crashed over the last few years during operations.

More than 50% of the fleet was grounded for lack of operational capability. Still, IAF modified six AN-32 during 2001-03 for `VIP use'. It had earlier modified two aircraft for VIP use between 1992 and 1999. The modification was not only irregular but lacked justification, the CAG report said.

According to rules, these VIP aircraft are to be used by the President, the Prime Minister and the Vice-President. Senior officers of the defence ministry or the services can use them if it is absolutely important. The conversion was considered unjustified given the fact that IAF already had a fleet of more than 14 aircraft and half-a-dozen choppers for this purpose as part of its Communication Squadron meant only for VIP travel.

The Communication Squadron consists of two Boeings, seven Avros, four executive jets and six helicopters. Despite this huge fleet for three persons, the government acquired three Boeing Business jets at a cost of more than Rs 900 crore in 2008. These aircraft were meant to fly the PM and the President to far off locations and to be used for other domestic flights.

It was found during the audit examination that the existing fleet of the Communication Squadron was utilized by a mere 27% between 1999 and 2007.

A senior defence ministry official said, after the rap from the Public Accounts Committee, IAF has given an assurance that all the modified aircraft had been restored back to operational requirements.

Interestingly, in 2001 the then defence minister, George Fernandes, had asked the then defence secretary to constitute a high-level committee with representatives from armed forces to "look at lavish lifestyle and misuse of service aircraft" by IAF officers and their family members. The orders had come after repeated media reports that some of the senior IAF officials' wives had misused service aircraft to fetch lobsters and pastries from far off locations. However, no such committee was ever formed, a senior defence ministry official told TOI.
Planes for VIPs used by IAF officers, wives

End the VIP status symbols, ensure security for all

New Delhi
One of the reasons for huge public anger erupting like a volcano almost every week is the manner in which many politicians throw their weight to gain importance and impress upon the people. Almost every day we read reports of some politician delaying flights or trains. Why? The common man wants to know how worthy the worthies are or have they become leeches on India's society.

Having had the privilege of covering as a newsman New Delhi's political scenario from the days of first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the author is a witness to the decline in values and the kind of arrogance that the so called leaders of today display.

India''s first Prime Minister mixed freely with the common people. Every year the Holi festival in the front lawns of Teen Murti House was great fun for one and all.

There used to be adequate security for Jawaharlal Nehru. Let's not forget that India's first Prime Minister was as much under threat, after having annoyed the world's leading powers like the US and the USSR by refusing to take sides during the Cold War era.

There were elements hostile to Pandit Nehru at home as well. Yet, the police then were trained to be discreet and manage the situation without causing any inconvenience to the public.

In today's India, even at the official receptions held at the President's House the dignitaries sit under a shamiana expecting the guests to come there in a queue and greet them. Gone are days when Pandit Nehru, with guests like Marshal Tito and Gamal Abdel Nasser would mix with the vast crowd of invitees at the Presidents House. Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi always loved to walk around the gardens admiring flowers and meeting people.

Gone also are the days when President Eisenhower was cheered by the surging crowds in Connaught Place in New Delhi. The convoy of Bulganin and Khruschev passed through milling crowd from Palam to President's house and was almost held up by the enthusiastic crowds in Calcutta. The police managed the security concerns well, worried like hell as they were at that moment.

Those events seem a distant dream! However in another country -- the United Kingdom - even today the Queen travels around without a huge cavalcade, causing inconvenience to the public. So does the Prime Minister of that country. I have not seen any British politician making himself a nuisance to ordinary citizens during my stay in London for a while. And please don't forget that Britain faces as much of a jehadi threat today as it earlier faced insurgents from Northern Ireland.

Indian police and security agencies managed VIP security in a discreet manner for many years after Independence. If they are not able to do so, it is not because of their inefficiency. The reason is the rise of the new class of politicians - the 'fixers' who want to make a show of their power, by displaying gun toting security personnel around them. Some of these worthies are never tired of shouting "Don't you know who I am?"

The story does not end merely with the misuse of police and commandos, but the public nuisance that most of the so-called VIPs create today. To seek their special right of the way, no one can tell you for sure as to how many cars today have red light globes atop their roofs.

They are such a nuisance that the man in the street makes derisive remarks by saying that those displaying red lights belong to the red light district!

Rahul Gandhi has described this as ‘laal batti’ (red beacon light) culture. Time and moment has come when this must end. You can be sure that policemen who are put on such security duties with the ‘paper-tiger’ politicos hate their job.

Imagine a constable cooling his heels outside a school waiting for the child of the so-called VIP or the poor constable who is forced to carry bags of vegetables and groceries of the VIP ‘memsahib’ as part of his duty to protect the 'who is who'.

If India is to survive as a democracy, it is time that these new feudal lords are brought under check. No one is going to grudge security provided to those holding constitutional positions. But even that must not cause undue inconvenience to the people.

Everyone must stand in a queue with other passengers while boarding a flight and go through normal security drills. Why have special lounges for VIPs at the airports.

The only way to end this ‘laal batti’ culture is to order its removal altogether from all the cars including that of real VIPs.

The leaders of earlier days were known for their simplicity and accessibility. We can revert to those days and learn from their simplicity.

The present security cover smacks of a show of power. These agencies can have a close look at the manner at the way the problem is handled in the United Kingdom and some other countries.

In the final analysis it is the duty of the government to ensure the security of all citizens. If each and every citizen is secure, you can be sure of the safety of politicians too.
End the VIP status symbols, ensure security for all
Political Ploy: Private Vehicles with Party Flags and Red Lights tout and Violate all traffic rules. Even criminals baltantly scout and use the Party flags and symbol in private vehicles to ward of any Police scrutiny or checks! A mobile Nation of Political terrorists let loose on the streets!

Police Protection: National Security or VIP terror?

Over 45,000 policemen protect Indian VIPs: Report
New Delhi: As the post-26/11 debate on whether politicians need more security than the public rages on, facts hidden in government figures show how India can be safer if only our VIPs do not turn security into a status symbol.

On paper, threat assessments dictate security cover and the extent of protection. Politics often replaces threat assessments in practice. More than 45,000 policemen protect the pool of VIPs in India that grew at 20 per cent — 12 times faster than the annual population growth rate — between 2004 and 2005. This means more security personnel guard 13,319 VIPs than the number of policemen in any Indian city — Delhi and Mumbai included. This is more than the police strength of all states bar the nine largest.

An estimated Rs 825 crore of taxpayers’ money is spent annually on the salary of the security staff alone, assuming — conservatively —that all on duty are constables earning Rs 15,000 each. The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) headquartered in Delhi had compiled the figures more than a year ago.

Police officers said the actual number of policemen protecting the VIPs — ministers, members of Parliament, state legislators, judges and bureaucrats among others — would be at least twice this figure. In Delhi, more than 14,000 personnel are on VIP duties. The report, Data on Police Organisations in India, only counted about 4,900 security personnel deployed for more than six months as on January 1, 2006.

“A total of 11,012 VIPs were provided police protection for more than six months during the year 2004… It shows an increase of 20.9 per cent over the previous year,” the report said.

“The increase in the VIP protection deployment has strained the limited manpower resources of State Police,” the report said, suggesting that the grounds for providing security were skewed. On paper, threat assessments dictate security cover and the extent of protection. Politics often replaces threat assessments in practice.

Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh’s is the latest example. His threat perception suddenly increased this year to the highest level, Z-Plus, around the same time that the UPA government’s life was hanging in balance after the Left pullout. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati too had got herself home ministry clearance for her car to drive up to the aircraft at the Delhi airport after she extended support to the government more than a year ago. She withdrew support this year, but the privileges continue.

BPR&D said the deployment of police for VIP protection should be rationalised by reviewing it against need-based assessment. According to figures in its report, West Bengal has the most number of VIPs -- 1,999. Assam comes next with 1,610 and Uttar Pradesh, a close third at 1,506. Maharashtra, on the other hand, had reported about 122 VIPs. Terror-torn Jammu and Kashmir, however, has only 170 VIPs.
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Over 45,000 policemen protect Indian VIPs: Report