By Admiral (Retd) Arun Prakash
The best democracies in the world have retained firm civilian control
over their armed forces not by isolating them, but by involving them in the
national security decision-making process
The media flutter caused by a recent missive from Chairman Chiefs of
Staff Committee (COSC) Admiral Nirmal Verma to the defence minister, expressing
dismay about the omission of a military representative on the committee to
examine the armed forces’ pay and pension anomalies, is uncalled for. While a
Service chief conveying concerns to his political superiors (including the
prime minister) is perfectly in order, it is the continuous haemorrhaging of
such privileged communications to the public domain that should really be cause
for serious concern to the Union government.
And now, a matter of even greater disquiet for the public is that the
defence minister should need to convey his concern in writing to the PM,
reportedly, suggesting that “things may take a bad turn” if timely corrective
action with regard to the anomalies in fixation of salaries and pensions of the
armed forces is not initiated.
Since 1947, vexed issues, with a vital bearing on India’s national
security, have remained crammed into a Pandora’s Box that was daringly opened,
post-Kargil, by the NDA government. A group of ministers convened to examine
these issues, rendered a timely report, but the loss of political nerve led to
a partial and cosmetic implementation of its well-considered recommendations.
The recent Naresh Chandra Committee ventured, once again, into the crucial
arena of national security; but it remains to be seen whether the labours of
this body will find fulfilment, or are cast, once again, into limbo by the
current coalition. The recent contretemps have an important, even if indirect,
relationship with national security reform, and two aspects merit special
attention.
First, the defence minister’s warning comes not a day too soon; because
grievances about pay and pension issues have been simmering for many years,
with bureaucrats and politicians alike ignoring them. As far back as April
2006, before the Sixth Central Pay Commission (CPC) was announced, this writer,
as Chairman COSC, wrote to the defence minister, seeking his personal
intervention for the “appointment of a Service Officer as a constituted member
of the Sixth CPC. since the lack of a Service representative was one of the
main reasons for the dissatisfaction amongst the armed forces post the Fifth
CPC award.”
Having responded very positively to the initial suggestion, the defence
minister at the time subsequently conveyed to the COSC that, in spite of
opposition from his cabinet colleagues, he would still try to “embed” a Service
element to provide advice to the commission. A few weeks later, the minister
moved on to take charge of external affairs and the fate of the armed forces
was left to the mercies of the bureaucracy-dominated Pay Commission.
As expected, the Sixth CPC report contained a number of glaring
anomalies with respect to the armed forces, and at the persistent urging of the
COSC, a review committee was constituted to examine them. Perversely, this body
again excluded any armed forces representation, and ominous signs of active
discontent began to emerge, in 2007, from the ex-Servicemen in public
demonstrations. Alarmed at this, a few retired Service chiefs wrote to the PM
expressing deep concern at these developments and urging him that it would be
just and fair to have a Services representative on the review committee.
However, contrary advice seems to have prevailed, and the results are before us
to see.
A second crucial issue worth examination relates to why India’s
political establishment is so reluctant to accord recognition to the country’s
military leadership, and insists on interposing a layer of bureaucracy between
itself and the armed forces. Why is it that the defence minister and the PM
consider the defence secretary better placed to represent the armed forces, in
most forums, than the Service chiefs — each with over 40-plus years of
experience in national security? With the greatest respect for our civil
servants, the fact remains that many of them are best described as “rolling
stones”, whose careers demand that after serving in states and assorted
ministries they transit through the ministry of defence for a year or two
before moving on to greener pastures.
The fundamental reason for this situation, and the crux of the problem,
lies in the fact that the Service chiefs have not been accorded a “locus
standi” and, therefore, remain “non-persons” in the edifice of the government.
The background to this anomaly is to be found in two volumes of business rules,
issued under the constitutional powers of the president in 1961, which are the
“bibles” for conduct of business by the government. According to these rules,
the responsibility for the “defence of India, and every part thereof, including
preparation for defence”, and for the “armed forces of the Union, namely, Army,
Navy and Air Force” has been vested in the defence secretary. The three Service
chiefs neither find mention nor are allocated any responsibilities by these
rules.
The rules of business have been amended by the cabinet secretariat on
over 300 occasions (the last in May 2012), but no politician or civil servant
has considered it necessary to bring the chiefs, the vice-chiefs and the
principal staff officers in the three Service HQs within the ambit of these
rules. All these functionaries have a vital role to play in national security,
but since they lack a status in the government, and have no equation with
secretaries of defence, the Defence Research and Development Organisation or
the Department of Defence Production, their views and recommendations are often
ignored.
The best and oldest democracies in the world have retained firm civilian
control over their armed forces not by isolating them — but by subsuming them
within the central edifice of government and involving them in the national
security decision-making process. It is time to discard our antediluvian system
and stop inflicting wounds on ourselves by alienating soldiers and veterans.
The writer is a former Chief of Naval Staff and Chairman, Chiefs of
Staff Committee
The views expressed and Information provided
by the author are his own and left to public to judge and rationalise for
themselves.
by the kind courtesy of The Indian Express
No comments:
Post a Comment