Series of scams that emerged in the Ministry of Defence has left many veterans completely astonished in the capital city.
Scores of veterans opined that it was the right time that the Central Government set accountability for public representatives, also in order not to dent the clean image of the Indian defence forces. Couple of scams like Adarsh Housing Society scam, Sukna land scam, Ration supplies scam, Frozen meat scam, Ordnance Factory Board scam etc and slow and lengthy process for renovation, modernisation and upgradation of weapons and communication equipment gained the attention of veteran top brass of the Indian defence forces.
The frequent cases of corruption that have surfaced in the ministry over the years have implicated everyone from petty officers to the highest ranks in the department. After expressing his concern over the recently naval incident, Brig (Retd) KG Behl, former district president, Dehradun ex-services league said that the Indian Navy has received a major jolt with the explosion and sinking of the Russian submarine at the Mumbai harbor and lamented that this was one of the worst tragedies to hit the Navy since the sinking of INS Khukri during the 1971 India Pakistan war.
“The armed forces are clearly being shackled by the civilian wing which retains the last word on procurements. The conservative bureaucracy that ultimately influences the political masters is clearly not impressed or concerned with the vision documents prepared regularly by defence chiefs to bring India’s military into a state of preparedness where it can face the most determined of aggressors,” he averred. He added that the Union Government should make concrete plans for renovation, modernisation and upgradation of communication equipments and weapons as well. Echoing the same feelings, BSF IG (Retd) SS Kothiyal, State president, ex-central armed police force personnel said that the vision was necessarily linked to weaponisation, and over the last ten years in particular nothing has moved to close the gap between the two. Instead, the gap has increased with the apathetic bureaucracy and weak or corrupt defence ministers for whom procurements are inextricably linked to the commissions, and not necessarily to the military’s urgent requirements. Expressing his views on the slower pace for the renovation, modernisation and upgradation in the Indian defence forces, lt Col (Retd) GS Rawat, Central president, Uttarakhand Purva Sainik and Ardh Sainik Sangathan said that the preparedness of the Indian defence forces was exposed during the Kargil conflict when it became apparent that the soldiers of the Indian Army were being made to fight a war at high altitudes without even the basic facilities, such as snow shoes, or food that could survive the weather conditions.
He said that the soldiers continued to work under extreme conditions with poor facilities surviving only because of his professionalism, as there has been little change in the situation insofar as his welfare is concerned. The Indian armed forces across the world are known for their professionalism. But unfortunately, defence deals are now mired under deep corruption giving the defence establishment of India not a very good name across the world besides affecting our state of preparedness.