|
|
Opinion
India's New
Defence Minister
The Dilemma of Honesty or Efficiency?
by Col. Rahul K. Bhonsle
 The
appointment of Mr. A K Anthony as India’s new defence minister has
raised many issues administrative and proprietary in the functioning of
India’s gargantuan government at the Centre. In the bureaucratic maze,
that is India’s defence and security infra structure, Mr. A K Anthony
will be first faced with myriad personal challenges rather than
professional ones. Mr. Anthony’s key credentials to the job are his
personal honesty which comes about from a Spartan life style rather than
the opulence of the excess, the two dipoles of the Indian political
Diaspora who are seen to be incorruptible.
Of the former, comprising of
those with an ascetic life style, there are but a handful. The Prime
Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh of course leads this small pack but Mr.
Anthony is not far behind. But then the Armed Forces, particularly the
top hierarchy which is not a paragon of self-denial, may feel distinctly
uncomfortable with a defence minister who has stopped buying books
because they are too expensive. It remains to be seen if Mr. Anthony is
taken in by the pelf and splendor of the military or he is able to rein
in its profligacy. The other test of his integrity will come with
India’s now notorious arms dealers. Their links with the political class
are shown to be so deep rooted that, through the appointment of Mr.
Anthony, the Congress is attempting to perhaps send a powerful signal to
them, that honesty continues to be a valued virtue. Hopefully these
masters of wheeling and dealing are not able to get around the new
defence minister.
A greater challenge is to actualize and synergize the defence
establishment, not just getting a Chief of Defence Staff, but the entire
gargantuan structure of the defence ministry, the services, the DRDO,
the Defence Ordnance Factories which have a major role to play in the
productionalising of research and development by the DRDO and also
integrating these with the civilian sector. This is the primary role of
India’s defence minister which Mr. Anthony is hopefully able to do, may
be after he is able to understand the nuances of functioning of his
ministry. Mr. Pranab Mukherjee with his vast experience and exposure to
the ministerial functioning was able to carry it off quite well and
would have made a decisive impact in case he had been allowed to
continue over a full five year tenure. It is now up to Mr. Anthony to
carry forward the good work of his predecessor.
His past credentials for such a job are less than flattering, for it
would imply not only getting to know the security dynamics faced by the
country over the next two to three decades but also to adjudicate
frequently between the rival establishments that operate within the
ministry, starting with inter services squabbling to constant snapping
at the DRDO and the Ministry. The turf battles between the defence, home
and external affairs ministry are also legion. The new defence minister
has only the support of the Prime Minister and his own honest, straight
forward and no nonsense approach to understand and then get on top of
this hydra headed animal.
However the main challenge before Mr. Anthony is to exploit the vast
potential of the armed forces in enhancing India’s role in regional as
well as international affairs. This strategic tool has hardly ever been
exploited after perhaps Mr. Rajeev Gandhi’s Prime Ministerial tenure to
seek for India political and economic objectives, without posing extra
territorial apprehensions by its neighbors. A muted role as part of the
United Nations Peace Keeping force may not be enough if India is seeking
a central role in the affairs of the world in the future. NATO’s
intervention in Afghanistan despite the multiple risks is perhaps one
indication of the importance of active participation of the nation’s
armed forces in projecting national will and resolve in the interest of
global order, rather than twiddling thumbs with a 1 million plus force
fighting the proxy wars at home.
Internally no doubt the accountability of the DRDO is a primary issue
towards which the Defence Minister would do well to create time
measurable, result oriented processes and procedures for indigenization
of the defence needs with a DRDO-public-private partnership.
Institutionalizing such a process would be a stellar contribution by Mr.
Anthony in his tenure which could be as short as the next two and a half
years.
Fratricide in the Armed Forces is of course an issue but so are human
rights violations and custodial deaths in Kashmir and the North East.
Apart from isolated aberrations, the key to these issues is not stress
as is made out to be so frequently in the media but failure of command
at the cutting edge of battalions and companies where the pulse of the
troops and imposition of personality of the commanding officers is
lacking. At the senior level the inability to comprehend the tolerance
threshold contributes to the pressures felt by the commanding officers,
unless there are cushions in between. Getting the Army to dilute the
Armed Forces Special Powers Act will be a Herculean task where he will
certainly have to draw upon his philosophical reserves.
A philosophically oriented, “karma” besotted defence minister will no
doubt be a refreshing change for the armed forces. Sadly his ability to
deliver more bang for the buck of Rs 80,000 Crore that the nation is
investing in its forces each year does not raise confidence in most of
us at least as of now.
October 29,
2006
Top
|
Opinion
The Week of October 29, 2006
Will the PM Abet Corruption? by Rajinder Puri
US Elections and the Hell Shaped Curve by Gaurang
Bhatt, MD
United States Neurotic Obsessions
with
Pakistan's General Musharraf by Dr. Subhash Kapila
India's New Defence Minister:
The Dilemma of Honesty or Efficiency by Col.
Rahul K. Bhonsle
Criminal Freedom versus Civil Thralldom by V.
Sundaram
Is England Becoming 'Little England'? by V.
Sundaram
Do They Speak ... These Statues? by Pradip
Bhattacharya
Death – An amazing phenomenon! by Pradeep
Joshi
Beware! The Land Slides by VK Joshi
Home, Home On the (Nuclear) Range by Stephanie
Hiller
James Rennell: The Father of Indian Geography
by Kumud Biswas
Michael Schumacher – the man and the champion
by Yamini Ayyagari
Parenting with Love by Atasi Sen
Love: A Pleasurable Pain by Julia Dutta
The Best of Both Worlds by Vikram Karve
Chega Tchega Sega! by Naiya Sivaraj
The Witty Side by Melvin Durai
America's Weakness by William R. Stimson
The Global Village Is Tilted in America’s Favor
by Glory Sasikala Franklin
I Want to be a Drop-out by Prakash Pathre
For the Sake of Laws by Aruni Mukherjee
Would Gandhi Win Today? by Rita Manchanda
The State of Saffron by Elsa Sherin Mathews
Don't Stop the Flow by Gagandeep Kaur
Bringing Health to their Doorstep by Sushmita
Malaviya
'I had an Abortion at Home' by Michelle R
Bayaua
Mother's Recipe for Quality Schools by Malvika
Kaul
|
|
