By Prakash Katoch
Media hysteria about army causing wasteful
expenditure of rupees 100 crores needs analysis. If an Army Chief’s top secret
letter to the Prime Minister can be leaked to the media, what is so great about
an “internal audit” of Ministry of Defence (MoD) being leaked? No holy cow will
take responsibility for the leak and any probe is out of the question. How do
you probe deliberate leaks? Then there are the ‘army coup’ story types who willingly
stoop to any low despite mediacrooks.comrevelation of properties 20
times the known source of income and rapid rise to abnormal affluence. Flooding
the media accusing Army Commander’s negligent
decisions and attributing this so called “wasteful expenditure” to two Army
Chief's including the present one without inquiry is hardly surprising. It is good to keep the armed forces under pressure
and periodically show them in bad light. Keeps the ISI smiling also especially
if they don’t have to pay, or do they also?
Most interesting was the recent TV debate featuring
a former Army Commander and a former CAG, besides others. The main issue was
purchase of bullet proof jackets for troops fighting terrorists in Kashmir. The
latter repeatedly harped on why “procedurally” these bullet proof jackets
should not have been purchased. Finally, the former Army Commander asked him if
any other indigenous bullet proof jacket was available in the country that be
purchased. Our man was dumbfounded but the anchor instantly intervened saying
there was no time for further discussion (as if the reply would need eternity),
adding he would call them next day to continue the
debate, which he never did. What the former Army Commander implied was simply
this – am I supposed to get my soldiers shot by terrorists while you
“procedurally” sort out how to permit purchase of bullet proof jackets and patkas?
Northern and Eastern Army Commanders have enhanced financial powers, with due
government sanction for maintaining operational preparedness and saving lives
notwithstanding bureaucratic jealousy and the urge for centralized control at
any cost.
At Command levels, institutionalized
process exists for taking such decisions for emergent purchases. The Integrated
Financial Authority (MoD representative) is part of it and undertakes stringent
pre-audit. Discretionary
financial powers are provided for situations where time is of essence; normal
procedure too lengthy to meet emergent needs. Should emergent procurements then
be subjected to same procedural requirements? Have we
forgotten what bureaucratic red
tape did to troops in
Siachen? Till quite recently, the procedure followed was annual provisioning
review for procuring special clothing, which commenced on first April only and
had no provision for maintaining reserves. Special clothing invariably arrived
late (sometimes in October) after winters fully set in. Crucial items like
special socks kept lying at Delhi for want of DGQA (Directorate General of
Quality Assurance – directly under MoD) clearance while troops got frost bitten
and lost limbs. It is irrelevant whether delays were to extract the pound of
flesh by DGQA or technical.
Who is accountable for these
delays while soldiers are maimed for life or shot/killed without protective
gear? Aren’t these perfect murders - read culprits perfect murderers who don’t
get nailed? In 1999, an Army Division occupied posts in Kargil Sector, some as
high and as cold as Siachen but special clothing was authorized to some 5000
troops of this formation only in 2005 and that too only two-third of projected demand.
Who is accountable for frost bitten cases from 1999 to 2005 in Kargil Sector?
Our armchair warriors in ministries couldn’t
care less for lives of our soldiers; military, para-military forces, central
armed police forces and police. The MoD in any case is a conglomerate of
generalists, sans domain knowledge, some of whom were forced to visit Siachen
when George Fernandez was Defence Minister. Ironically, the Supreme Commander
of the Armed Forces (President of India) too has been sidelined through Machiavellian manipulation
of ‘The Transaction of Business Rules, 1961’. Even dismissal/ appointment of
Service Chiefs are not referred to the Supreme Commander any more. The
Committee of Secretaries rules the roost subjugating all ministries including
MoD.
The Supreme Commanders watch silently while
military veterans return their medals and gallantry awards with petitions inked
in their own blood or when government fools the nation with announcements like
“Financial Bonanza for Veterans – Government Sanctions OROP”; a blatant lie and
a cruel joke on the military. Even the belated correction of basic pay done by
the Cabinet Secretary chaired Committee has not been followed up through a
government notification despite several weeks having elapsed. Arrears on account
of rank pay authorized since 1986 are being given from 2006 only and individual
officers made responsible to produce all the documents. Who ate up the
lakhs/crores of rupees spent on computerization of entire CDA? But, the million
dollar question this nation needs to ask is can the soldiers be allowed to be
murdered and maimed behind the cover of red tape? Isn’t time more than overdue
to affix bureaucratic accountability?
The author is a former Special Forces Lieutenant
General of Indian Army
By the kind courtesy of http://turningpointindia.blogspot.in/
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