The Comptroller & Auditor General’s (CAG’s) recent report not only underlines serious concerns about defence preparedness but also raises a very uncomfortable question: are the Narendra Modi government’s much-hyped initiatives in the area, the efforts to marry them with its ambitious Make in India programme, and to involve the private sector just optics?
The letter said that the Army’s tank regiments were “devoid of critical ammunition to defeat enemy tanks. Further, there were “large scale voids” in critical weaponry.
The CAG report, tabled in Parliament last week, reveals that the Indian Army does not have the ammunition stock for a conflict lasting more than 10 days. It went on to point out that there hasn’t been much improvement in the situation since 2013.
The top auditor slammed the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) for “inadequate quality of ammunition supplied to the Army since March 2013.” The CAG said, “Shortfall in meeting the production target by OFB continued. Further, the majority of the procurement cases from other than OFB which were initiated by Army headquarters during 2009-13 were pending as of January 2017.”
The government’s lackadaisical approach is not only affecting the Army but also the Indian Navy. The CAG highlighted 38 accidents between 2007-08 and 2015-16 involving the Indian Navy’s ships and submarines—a very high frequency. A dedicated Safety Organization was supposed to be constituted in 2014 but hasn’t been so far. The CAG has also mentioned the tardy procurement process, which has adversely affected the Navy’s preparedness.
It needs to be pointed out here that the lack of defence preparedness is not something that only the CAG and experts have been talking about. In March 2012, the then Army Chief, General V.K. Singh, had written a letter to prime minister Manmohan Singh over the “alarming” situation. Mentioning obsolescence, shortage of arms and armaments, and inadequate air defence systems, he urged the prime minister to “pass suitable directions to enhance the Army’s preparedness.”
The letter said that the Army’s tank regiments were “devoid of critical ammunition to defeat enemy tanks. Further, there were “large scale voids” in critical weaponry.
The government of the day acted in a typical fashion. Instead of taking up the issue seriously, it sought to manipulate the media and disparage the Army chief. “Top MoD sources said it was surprising that Gen Singh wrote such a long letter to the PM at a time when the MoD was already undertaking a comprehensive review of Army’s operational capabilities, primarily prompted by the Army chief’s concerns,” a The Times of India reported (March 29, 2012). “The first meeting for this review was held on February 28, where defence minister A.K. Antony, defence secretary Shashi Kant Sharma and Gen. Singh were among those present. The second meeting was slated for March 21, but was postponed to April 2 because Gen Singh was absent.”
Notice the spin: The government was so concerned that it was organizing meeting after meeting, but the Army chief couldn’t find time for one of them. Also, notice the fact that the then defence secretary Sharma is the incumbent CAG!
For all its profession of nationalism and glorification of soldiers, the saffron party could find the full-time defence minister, Manohar Parrikar, only for 28 of the 38 months, it has been in office.
Evidently, for the powers that be, defence preparedness is a political game in which points are scored to belittle rivals. Nothing else explains the almost complete lack of concern for national defence among the political class. The only thing we get in the name of the safeguarding of our borders is duplicity from the Congress, as evident from its government’s attempt to cast aspersions on the Army chief, and nauseating sanctimoniousness from the Bharatiya Janata Party.
For all its profession of nationalism and glorification of soldiers, the saffron party could find the full-time defence minister, Manohar Parrikar, only for 28 of the 38 months, it has been in office. The Modi regime has also been unable to galvanize the entire defence establishment so that preparedness could be put on the mission mode. Apart from mouthing platitudes and making uber-nationalist statements, leaders of the ruling dispensation have done little.
For instance, consider the Indian Ordnance Factories organization. The Kolkata-headquartered Ordnance Factory Board commands 41 Ordnance Factories with, as its website says, “the unique distinction of over 200 years experience in defence production. We are engaged in production, testing, logistics, research, development, and marketing of a comprehensive product range in the area of land, sea and air systems.” The body claims to be “the force behind armed forces.” So many words, so little substance.
The denouement is the CAG report.
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