Siachen Problem

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The Siachen question
A way out can be found
by Lieut-Gen Harwant Singh (retd)

TIMES change, people change, the world has changed, policies are being realigned, free trade, etc, is the current mantra. But there is little shift in the stance of the hawks and doubting Thomases on the Indian side, be it any move towards the resolution of the J and K problem or the nuclear deal with the United States. It has been projected in these columns that a pullout from the Saltoro Range will be a Himalayan blunder and a monumental folly.

Some defence analysts have tried to project the Siachen Glacier and the Saltoro Range as an area of great strategic importance. To the West of it is the road linking Gilgit with Tibet (China,) and to the North- East is the important Karakoram Pass. To the North is the Shaksgam Valley, ceded to China by Pakistan. The Siachen glacier region would facilitate a link-up between Pakistan and China, they contend.

The Gilgit-Tibet road is nearly 250 kilometres across the world’s most forbidding terrain. The Karakoram Pass from the Glacier is across a group of first magnitude peaks in the world, which only a small mountaineering expedition can hope to traverse. The Shaksgam valley across the Indra Col and the Karakoram Range is inaccessible from the Glacier region. The route to the Karakoram Pass emanates from the Nubra Valley, and is well away from the Siachen Glacier. Another is along the Shyok River. Pakistan already has a link-up with China along the Gilgit-Tibet road and areas to the North of the Karakoram range.

It would be incorrect to contend that currently there are no casualties due to climate and weather at the Glacier/Saltoro range. Innumerous afflictions, other that due to enemy fire, continue to beset troops. Indian troops have endured great hardships and afflictions heroically for 22 years. They have the leadership and the perseverance to live with these for another 50 years and more, without a demur. But must they!

There is an upswing in the Indo-Pak relations, including people-to-people contacts. The futility of confrontation is realised by both sides. Opportunities are beckoning them to grasp the emerging economic possibilities in trade and commerce and to better their lot. Neither country can afford reckless expenditure on wasteful and avoidable deployment of troops.

The genesis and the background to the dispute over the Cease-Fire Line ( CFL) beyond Point NJ 9842 on the Saltoro Range and attempts to resolve this issue in the past have been recalled, far too often in these columns, and therefore need no repetition.

Of all the disputes between India and Pakistan relating to J and K, the peaceful resolution of the Siachen imbroglio is less intractable and could be the harbinger of improved relations between the two neighbours. The answer to the question of “we only giving concessions and not the other party” lies in the fact that it is this type of attitude which results in strained relations with all our neighbours. The Indian position recently spelled out by the Prime Minister is that there can be no redrawing of boundaries in J and K. It implies the status quo as far as the CFL goes. So, linking the AGPL with the CLF can be of no avail.

The issue of J and K has defied resolution for the last six decades. So, if de-linking the Siachen from the larger issue of J and K can throw up an opportunity to move forward, then it needs to be grasped. Presently the agreement to demilitarise the Siachen region has hit a roadblock on the issue of authentication of ground positions of troops of the two countries. While India insists that before the troops from the two countries pull back from their positions, the same should be delineated on the maps and authenticated by the two sides. Pakistan baulks from such an agreement. Consequently, India has reason to suspect the intentions and motives of Pakistan. Mutual suspicion runs deep in both countries.

We accuse Pakistan of perfidy and violation of the Shimla Agreement at Kargil, while Pakistan holds us to a similar act in occupying the Saltoro Range in 1984. Though India had evidence of Pakistani intentions to occupy the area and merely pre-empted it at the Saltoro Range, Pakistan projects a different position. Past does carry lessons for the future, but there is little to be gained by being a prisoner to the past. After all, the ceasefire along the CFL in J and K and at the AGPL on the Saltoro Range has held out since November 2003 and that should give a measure of confidence to both sides.

The Pakistani public has been made to believe that its troops are in part occupation of the Siachen Glacier. Authentication of the positions of the troops of the two sides on the maps will expose that lie. Pakistan’s reluctance to authenticate the AGPL must be seen against these compulsions.

India suspects that Pakistan will occupy the vacated positions on the Saltoro Range. In such an eventuality it would be both difficult and costly for the Indian troops to evict them from those positions. If one is to surrender to suspicion and mistrust, then even if positions are authenticated, mischief by Pakistani troops is still possible. They could occupy the heights vacated by Indian troops, an agreement notwithstanding. So, authentication of positions by itself is of little help in case of bad faith. What will help is the conviction in Pakistan, the inevitability of violent Indian military reaction to any move to occupy the vacated positions.

As an alternative to the authentication of the positions held by both sides, we could instead show our positions to the international Press. Mark the AGPL on the ground and take satellite pictures and publish these. Draw up an agreement with Pakistan to demilitarise the area and insert a provision in the agreement that in the event of occupation of the vacated positions of the opponent, by either side, it will confer the right on the other to take recourse to such actions, including military action, anywhere, to redress the situation. That would throw up many suitable military options to the aggrieved party. Some system of joint control over the demilitarised zone can also be worked out.

Heaping calumny and ascribing bad intentions will not do. Equally, we need not be the self-appointed champions of democracy for other countries. During periods of a democratic set-up in Pakistan, our relations have never been any better or moves to resolve the areas of disputes more purposeful. We may debate to no purpose whether an end to cross-border terrorism should precede an improvement in relations with Pakistan, or follow it.

Education in Punjab

Education in Punjab
Mere tinkering with the problem won’t do
by Lt-Gen Harwant Singh (retd)

INstallation of biometric checks by the Punjab Education Department in some schools of Fatehgarh Sahib district to oversee the attendance of teachers and their timely arrival highlights only one aspect of the sad state of affairs of education, even at a location so near the state capital. Late coming and or missing school by teachers of primary, middle and higher secondary schools in the countryside is endemic. Biometric check is a typically bureaucratic solution which an errant teacher can bypass making an entry into the school and then disappearing.
The other shocking practice is the proxy teacher arrangement. The proxies work in place of regulars who make some minimal payments to them. The proxy teachers have dubious academic qualifications and little teaching skills. Some others teach little in schools but take private tuitions at home. Such practices have been in vogue on a large scale and no effort has been made to end these.
Many teachers have fake degrees and many others poor academic record with no teaching skills. Most have sought entry into the profession through political patronage or through a hefty consideration. Postings to stations of choice carry a price.
Of nearly 13,400 primary schools (including private schools), most government schools don’t have basic infrastructure such as playgrounds, suitable classrooms, desks and even black boards. In some schools, classes are held under trees. Of the 6,483 middle and higher secondary schools, most science laboratories are ill-equipped or simply do not exist.
Consequently, the cumulative effect of all these factors results in 100 per cent failures in some government schools and most others produce indifferent results. From the Education Minister down to headmasters, there is no accountability. With poor standard of teaching, mass copying and cheating in examinations takes place, encouraged and abetted by teachers and parents.
Given such an environment, what standards, value system, character building, commitment and fostering of discipline is possible? With many vice-chancellors involved in malfeasance, registrars in corruption cases and political interference, the situation at the university level is no better. Of the five universities and four technical institutes (the better known in the province) not one makes, even a faint blip on the national radar. No college figures amongst the country’s top 100.
To be an Education Minister in Punjab one need not be educated. Tota Singh as Education Minister, not knowing English, did away with English in primary schools. This was when China and rest of India were furiously working to master the English language to find entry into the IT job market and services sector. When in South India, medical, engineering, IT colleges and other institutions were mushrooming all over, the Punjab government in the last decade of 20th century established the Martial Arts Academy.
Even now the political leadership is more keen to promote religious tourism and build hotels to that end rather than focus on more pressing issue of revamping education. The IT boom and auto-industry etc which created  millions of jobs in South India and elsewhere, completely bypassed Punjab due to the short sightedness of our educationists and successive governments in Punjab.
The rural Punjabi youth is poorly educated, has no job skills and is simply unemployable. Consequently, his ambition does not soar beyond joining some petty government job even for which political pull or monetary consideration comes into play. The state’s capacity to create new jobs is restricted to creating new districts, more bureaucracy and state police etc. to accommodate the rising unemployment. Such efforts do not even scratch the surface of this burgeoning unemployment problem. But creating unnecessary jobs is burdening the state exchequer with unproductive expenditure and pushing the province further into a debt trap.
No university is involved in research work, except the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, which has little to show. The Central Government did not locate even one IIT or IIM in Punjab, and the political class has had no idea what these institutions are all about. In bigger towns, teaching shops have mushroomed to prepare students for entry into professional colleges. Many students do succeed but their basic foundation remains weak. Thus one requires a microscope to locate some one, Punjab educated, in say, ISRO, Nuclear Research Centres, DRDO and other scientific institutions working on the frontiers of knowledge.
No industry has come to Punjab essentially on three counts. While every other state has been spreading red carpet for the industrialists and formulated industry-friendly policies, Punjab has been driving them away by spreading the red tape and holding scissors to downsize their pockets.
The other reason is the paucity of qualified, trained and skilled manpower in the province. The third is the pathetic state of infrastructure. So it has been a case of triple whammy, unfriendly policies, lack of qualified manpower and absence of infrastructure. Investments in realty are unproductive, create no wealth and job opportunities, builders take away money and leave behind labour colonies, which have come to dot all towns. With fragmentation of land holdings, overexploitation of land and the ever depleting ground water level, agriculture is on the decline and no more attracts the youth.
For Punjab, good education for the youth must be accorded the highest priority. Mere tinkering with the problem cannot set things right. We need out-of-box thinking and a major surgical operation. All this requires foresight and political will. Punjab has been left so far behind that only a concerted effort of five to seven years is required for the results to show. There is simply no quick-fix solution nor any time to lose.
The first requirement is to thoroughly screen the teaching staff at the primary, middle and higher secondary schools and technical institutions. Those who do not come up to an acceptable level should be offered attractive VRS or compulsorily retired with suitable emoluments.
The pay and emoluments of teaching staff should be substantially increased to attract the right material. Let’s lay down minimum academic qualifications for various levels of entry. Constitute large number of selection boards with educationists of repute on these, to select new teachers and allow no political interference in selection.
Training of teachers, old and new, should be taken in hand by rotating them through various types of capsules. Get suitable staff from South India to work in Punjab schools for three to five years to meet the shortages of suitable teachers.
Teaching of science and mathematics should be given priority and students encouraged to take up these subjects. In the emerging knowledge economy, proficiency in these subjects has become inescapable.
Revamping of education in the state, which includes building infrastructure at the schools requires large funds. Why not sell most state corporations and public enterprises and redeploy the monies so recovered for refurbishing the education system?
To meet the paucity of good teaching staff, high class teaching centres should be created and teaching from these projected through satellite or EDUSAT and received in schools on their video screens. This will also prove very useful for the teaching staff at the schools. Such a system requires considerable investment, but will prove the best and shortest way out of the current situation. Invite foreign universities of repute to set up colleges in the state.
Special incentives for the girl child should be introduced up to the higher secondary level at least. It should be mandatory for private schools to have appropriate infrastructure and minimum pay scales for teachers. They can be given two years to conform to these requirements, failing which they should be de-recognised.
Investing in education has a long lead time, but the returns on it unquestionably outweigh any near term investments. These investments of time and resources have to be made now, because time is fast running out.
The writer, who taught at the War College, School of Armoured Warfare, is a former Chairman, Army Public School, Dagshai

“Fall” is different this year

“Fall” is different this year
by Harwant Singh

IT is during “Fall” that we have been visiting America and are able to savour the “fall colours” for which this country is famous. Manhattan offers beautiful walks, not only in the Central Part but along Park Avenue, Fifth Avenue, Lexington Avenue etc.

Central Park is a riot of colour and along various Avenues it is the spectre of well-appointed stores with latest in clothes, jewellery and assortment of items for the rich and the famous. From Gucci to Cartier to Brioni, to Louis Vuitton or you name it, they are all there, though at a huge price, whereas Lexington Avenue offers more modest shopping. 

But this year we have been late in coming, and colours in the Central Park have lost their myriad hues and wear a drab wintry look. However, there is “fall” of a different kind. It is the “fall” in the economy. 

All those stores for the rich and others for not so rich are shorn of customers and wear a deserted look. Many have put up notices for discounted sales, while some others are simply down and out and ripe for outright closure and great picking.

The newspapers make gloomy reading with layoffs in thousands by the day: Industry after industry seems to be going under. No one appears to know how all this came about. There is a recall to the Great Depression of 1929 and we learn that Bernanke, Chairman Federal Reserve Bank of America is an authority on the Great Depression and will surely fix the economy. 

They say that perhaps “sub-prime lending,” in housing is the villain. But Greenspan, the previous Chairman of Federal Reserve Bank, was an authority on housing finance. So also were a bunch of CEOs, each an expert in his field, drawing fat salaries and millions in bonuses, whose companies have gone bust. 

America too has the largest number of Nobel Laureates in economics. But now
we are told the economics is not a precise science. No two economists agree
on any one economic issue. The debate often turns to free capitalism versus
controlled economy.
The motor car industry is on the brink of collapse and is in dire need of resuscitation in the form of bridge loan (whatever it means) of 25 million dollars. Oil prices had shot through the roof and the great American gas guzzlers had lost their attraction and now when the oil prices have come down there is no credit available and there is little money in the wallets. 

Law makers are not enthused with this fat demand of 25 million dollars. So uncertainty prevails as it does in most other areas. Auto manufacturers should have been working on fuel-efficient vehicles rather than on gas guzzlers. is the refrain .

Much hope is being pinned on the President elect, Mr Barack Obama, and his team. But the new Presidency is still many weeks away and much more “fall” may occur. Nor does the President elect have a magic wand to restore sanity and economic order in a jiffy.

The way Roosevelt handled the 1929 depression is now the subject of much study. But no two situations are ever exactly alike, so we wait out for the current financial turmoil to run its course.
Even if we are late for the “fall colours” this year, the Fall is there, though of a different type where the colours are missing but it does offer great bargains and is a shopper’s paradise. All you need is a fist full of dollars!




http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20081124/edit.htm#5

Grim picture

Grim picture

The article, “Services contempt of civil authority is not casual” (Oct 22) has caused much consternation amongst the services. Arundhati Ghose has tried to see ghosts where there are none. The article itself is highly biased.
We have the ambition to be a world economic power, but the vision and will of a third world country when it comes to creating strategic capabilities. Given the geo-strategic environments of the region and India’s unwillingness to rise to meet the emerging challenges, the picture is getting fairly grim by the day. To complete that picture, one may add the factor of de-motivation of country’s  armed forces.
Now that the fudging of the Cabinet decision by the Babus to advantage the IAS and the IFS has come to light (Outlook, Oct 13), would some one file a PIL against this forgery?
It also explains Ms Ghose joining the fracas. Had the Defence Minister told the Service Chiefs that the Cabinet decision was final, it would have left the chiefs two options to either resign in protest or accept half a century’s piled up degradations of their commands.
Lt-Gen HARWANT SINGH (retd), New York

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20081025/letters.htm

Siachen Allowance

Hike in Siachen allowance must be fair

We had taken up the issue for enhancement of Siachen allowance, in these columns, during the Fifth Pay Commission time. Ten years later, a simple issue took an hour of discussion, presumably because some members on the Cabinet Committee appear to have contested the need for increase. Even at the time of the Fifth Pay Commission, the present Finance Minister displayed pronounced bias against the defence forces.Any number of troops during their tenure at Siachen have suffered frostbite and other disabilities, and lost life by slipping into those innumerable crevasses, getting buried under avalanches and, of course, through high altitude sickness. 

There has been no experience worldwide on the long stay and the consequent physiological effect of prolonged exposure to low levels of intake of oxygen combined with extreme cold.
Nor has there been a comprehensive study in this field in India. The psychological effect did surface earlier in most cases and is in the knowledge of the Army. The range and extent of these afflictions set the scale of Siachen allowance quite apart from all other types of allowances.

The issue, therefore, is the fairness in the extent of increase when compared to the allowances made available to civil servants even when functioning under normal living and operating conditions.

Lt-Gen HARWANT SINGH (retd) Camp: New York 
 

Problems of defence forces

Problems of defence forces
How budget allocations fail to provide remedies
Harwant Singh

Finance Minister Jaswant Singh in his hour-long budget speech did not make a mention of the security scene in the region or the rationale for the financial allocations for defence. In his book, “Defending India”, he records, “National security is acknowledged as the first charge on the treasury.” Elsewhere he notes, “It is self-evident that resource inelasticity affects all government spending, including expenditure on defence. But it stands equally established that the armed forces cannot be permitted to degrade by denying them the monies to modernise and to keep them in fighting shape. That would be to court grave national danger.” 

True to his beliefs, the Finance Minister raised the allocations for defence to 3.1 per cent of the GDP from the average of 2.3 per cent of the last many years. Undeniably, the meagre financial support to the armed forces during the last decade and a half has resulted in their degradation. To correct this adverse situation, sustained allocation of 3.5 to 4 per cent of the GDP will need to be allocated to defence in the coming decade. This level of financial support for the defence budget is affordable and sustainable.

The re-organisation of the MoD and its merger with the defence headquarters was aimed at streamlining the procedures, cut out duplication and triplication of work, bring about substantial savings, speed up the decision-making process, etc. Similarly, the formation of a Defence Procurement Board (DPB) under the Defence Secretary with a Special Secretary, Acquisitions, and separate land, maritime, air and systems divisions, besides a separate finance division as part of this set-up, was expected to reduce the time taken for new acquisitions of weapons and equipment. This has not happened and consequently, as during the previous years, more than Rs 900 crore as an unutilised amount from the capital expenditure head, allotted during the financial year 2002-2003, was surrendered. This, in spite of the fact that Special Secretary, Acquisitions, had considerable experience in the field of defence acquisitions.

It is generally perceived that the value of a rupee spent on defence is about the same as that of a rupee spent on social services/development. In reality, this is not so. While a large percentage of monies spent on social services/development are siphoned off into private pockets, those spent on defence are more focused and result-oriented. This is due to greater discipline and accountability in the defence services. Also a good part of the defence budget is spent on infrastructure such as housing, roads, hospitals and clinics which eventually adds up to social services and national assets.
In another area, the defence services do not get the full worth of the funds made available to them. There are a great many reasons for this unhappy situation. Not the least of these being the archaic and bureaucratic procedures of the MoD, its recent reorganisation notwithstanding, where decisions are delayed for years resulting in higher costs and continued lower defence capabilities.

Almost the entire range of major defence equipment is imported, often at inflated costs. This in spite of the setting up of Defence Science Organisation soon after Independence with the sole purpose of making the country self-reliant in defence technologies and equipment. This organisation has grown manifold and is now called the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) with a network of 52 laboratories/establishments. It is a full-fledged department of the MoD and takes up approximately 5 to 6 per cent of the defence budget. Its mandate has been the development of emerging technologies required for defence weapons and equipment for future programmes. In this basic task the DRDO has singularly failed with the result that almost every piece of major weapon systems and equipment (in many cases even minor equipment such as items of snow clothing, etc) has to be imported at a high cost.

In countries where defence equipment is indigenously produced, it creates jobs and develops technologies, which find use in civil application and boosts the overall economy of the country. This obviously does not happen in India where, by importing thousands of crores of equipment every year, we merely add to another country’s economy and employment. The constant depreciating value of the rupee, too, has been resulting in our getting less for more money. In this sad situation there has been no individual or organisational accountability. Above all, it has made us totally dependent on one source for the supply of defence equipment and spares, etc, which, in the event of drying up of that source, as it happened on the break-up of the USSR, can result in serious voids in weapons and equipment serviceability and re-supply.

Most of the other requirements of the defence services are met by the Ordinance Factories, which since World War II have worked on the philosophy of “cost plus”. With the defence services as the captive customers and the virtual elimination of the private sector (competition), the defence budget has been compelled to bear the entire burden of wasteful expenditure, overheads, over-staffing, outdated production techniques and technologies and idle labour of the defence PSUs. Through a skewed system of pricing, the defence PSUs not only fix the prices on their own but also the MoD allows them to charge an additional 10 per cent to the self-determined cost.


Consequently, the defence services have been paying much more than the fair price of the goods received from the defence PSUs. Often the goods are shabby and substandard. Thus, in this area too the defence services have been short-changed and the defence rupee is made to travel less. The current move to open up defence industry to the private sector is less likely to meet much success, because private enterprise requires substantial investments and this can happen only if firm long-term projections of requirements are made.

On the one hand, long-term planning by the services has never found favour with the MoD, and on the other, financial allocations on a long-term basis have never been forecast or assured. This situation is less likely to be set right in the near future. Consequently, not much involvement and investment from the private sector can be expected in this area. In fact, most of the defence PSUs need to be privatised and that by itself will bring in competition with all the attendant benefits. Only very limited areas of defence production have security implications, and in their case it is possible to introduce certain safeguards.

Of the funds made available for the maintenance of buildings and other assets, 60 to 70 per cent of these are used up towards the pay and allowances of the Military Engineering Services staff (MES). Therefore, out of the meagre allocations made for the upkeep and maintenance of buildings and other infrastructure, the bulk is eaten up by this surplus staff of the MES, resulting in the continued deterioration of these assets. Here aga

in the defence services are able to extract less mileage out of the sums allotted.
Much too frequently the defence forces are called out in aid of the civil administration. The expenditure thus incurred is required to be reimbursed to the defence services. But often this does not happen and such expenditure, which is substantial in financial terms, is eventually borne by the defence sector and this results as an additional burden on its budget.

The sub-allocation of the defence budget to the three services is often an ad hoc exercise based on lobbying and bears little relevance to the building of desired capabilities to meet the emerging threats to national security in the medium and long term. The correction can be applied only if the security scene in the region is accurately assessed, its implications in the light of national interest determined, and the best force combination worked out. 

Such an assessment and evaluation could take place only when a full-fledged Chief of Defence Staff, with appropriate authority, is installed. Till then the MoD will continue to play one service against the other and resort to adhocism in resolving urgent defence issues. 
 
Such whimsical distribution of financial resources can only result in lop-sided force structuring, devoid of balance and rationale. Short-and-medium-term security concerns of the country relate to cross-border terrorism, proxy wars and the building of viable deterrence capabilities. Therefore, our equipping policy, force structuring and consequently service-wise financial allocations should correspond to our likely responses, and eventually and yet gradually get tailored into long-term security needs.

The writer, a retired Lieut-General, is a former Deputy Chief of Army Staff.




http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030312/edit.htm#4

Jacob’s claim to fame

Jacob’s claim to fame

Maj-Gen Himmat Singh Gill’s article was interesting. Gen Jacob has once more tried to garner credit for the 1971 victory against East Pakistan. He was only a staff officer and no more. He was dispatched to Dhaka to negotiate the surrender of Pakistan army, which had nothing to do with victory itself. 
Not only is the claim baseless but is in poor taste. This brings to mind a story from the First World War. Germany suffered serious reverses on its Eastern front against Russia during the battles of Tannenburg in the First World War. Both Commander and his chief of staff were removed. 

Unlike in other countries, including India, under the German General Staff system, the commander and his chief of staff shared responsibility for their actions. Before the new team could arrive to take charge, the seniormost officer on the staff of the Eastern wing of the German Army, a colonel, not only formulated a new plan but actually ordered movement of troops.

So when the new team, Field Marshal Hindenburg and his chief of staff Ludendorff arrived, major moves of troops to conform to this plan were already well underway. The colonel presented the plan to the new commander and his chief of staff, which Hindenburg approved.

The implementation of that plan not only led to a great victory, but actually knocked Russia out of the war. After the war, Hindenburg, as Chancellor of Germany, was on a lecture tour. A lady questioned him as to who should get the credit for the victory against the Russians — you or the colonel who made the plan and put it into operation? The Chancellor replied, “Madam, I do not know who should get the credit, but I do know if that plan had failed who would have had to carry the can.”

Lt-Gen HARWANT SINGH (retd), Chandigarh 

Bane of defence planning

Bane of defence planning
Synergy in spending is missing
by Lieut-Gen Harwant Singh (retd)

THE Budget allocation for defence for 2008-09 — Rs 105,600 crore — is 10 per cent higher than that for 2006-07. This amount may appear large, but considering the demands for the country’s security needs, it is insufficient. Equally, over the years, shortages have been piling up and modernisation was deferred. 

While the general inflation during the year may touch 5 per cent, in defence equipment it is generally one and a half to twice this figure. Add to this the fact that bureaucratic hassles seldom let acquisitions go through smoothly, and invariably a large amount lapses at the end of every financial year. 

The additional burden of the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission will further cut into the funds for capital expenditure for the year. The allocation in terms of the percentage of the GDP works out to less than 2.5 per cent. 

The bane of defence planning in India has been two-fold. One, there is no long-term joint defence planning encompassing all the three services and, two, no long-term assured financial support for defence is available. Nothing serves the latter assertion better than the Finance Minister’s palliative that, if required, more funds for defence will be made available. Ad-hocism is palpably obvious.
Admittedly, there are other compelling needs to be addressed. Abject poverty, illiteracy, abysmal state of health care, unemployment, etc, are the more pressing issues. However, it is the attitude and understanding of our political and intellectual elite which seem to be working under the assumption that progress and prosperity are not entirely inclusive of security and this then becomes an area of concern. 

Historically, too, we have never given national security the focus it demands. After Independence our attitude and policies have invariably ignored the need for strategic planning. However, the developments in the region, both in the fields of economics and security, will no more let an escapist attitude prevail; instead, there will be pressures of all kinds to create structures for strategic planning. 

In spite of limiting defence expenditure over the last 60 years, our economy has not been able to keep pace with many other countries whose baseline was much lower than ours at the start of this period. In fact, besides China, many other South Asian countries have left us behind by a wide margin. Even where allocations were as low as 1.8 per cent of the GDP as during the first 12 years of Independence and thereafter averaged between 2.3 per cent and 2.5 per cent, the economy moved at a painfully slow pace. It is the utilisation of the balance of 98.2-97.2 per cent of the GDP and the gains therefrom that merit a review and identifying pitfalls that have doggedly prevailed.
Unfortunately, defence expenditure on the procurement of equipment has been in terms of imports which have had a negative impact on the economy. Even that which is supplied by ordnance factories and defence PSUs has invariably been priced high, and the Services never got their money’s worth. Where the defence equipment is produced indigenously, the overall impact of defence expenditure on the economy is positive even if none of it is exported. In case the export of such equipment takes place, the impact is doubly positive. However, the national policies and the efforts of defence research and development (except, perhaps, for the Indian Navy) did not result in self-reliance and the country had to depend mostly on imports. Therefore, it has had a negative impact on economic growth, and we had to pay more for less. 

With the defence sector being opened up to private players and collaboration with foreign companies and technology tie-ups, the situation may improve to some extent, and here again competition is essential to keep the prices within reasonable limits. Even so, much of the profits will be taken away by the collaborators unless we quickly master the technologies and indigenise production.
India’s strategic vision must encompass its ambitions to become an economic power. It is essential to understand the need to create a secure environment for the fulfilment of such a lofty aim. To sustain the status of an economic power, the country will have to emerge as a regional military power and create peaceful conditions. In the field of national security, in all its facets, the doctrine of deterrence needs to be understood and capabilities to meet that end created. Development of deterrence is what will discourage adventurism by an adversary, have a sobering effect in the region and forestall any adverse situation for the country. 

There is the issue of judicious spending of financial allocations. Such spending and acquisition of new weapons, technologies and defence-related infrastructure have to be worked out to fit in the overall long-term strategic vision and security imperatives. In the absence of “jointness”, the Services tend to move along their own narrow tracks and are inclined to take a somewhat coloured view of the nature of future conflicts and their own role in these. Consequently, the capabilities thus built and infrastructure created could be disparate and unable to deliver the optimum dividend due to lack of synergy.

While the Prime Minister, the Defence Minister and every defence analyst pitches for the “jointness” or, in other words, the CDS system, the hold-up is inexplicable. Absence of unified and collective perceptions, prevalence of divergent strategic concepts and visualisation of the nature of future threats and long-term security needs remain blurred between the three Services. Consequently, all acquisitions are not fruitful and we don’t seem to get the bang we deserve for the buck we spend.
The army continues to be obsessed with the Western front and keeps arming itself as such, whereas the security environment and the demands of new challenges have undergone a paradigm shift. It is possible to set out many such examples. Equally, the pervasive tendencies of turf tending and lack of understanding of imperatives of other Services and the essence of naval power led a senior Air Force officer to project the view that the Indian Navy should do without aircraft carriers and the shore-based IAF assets can provide air support and air cover to the naval fleets! 

The issues of force structuring and equipment are related to the demands of the present, near future and long-term security requirements. Manpower can be adjusted as the demands shift or shrink, but equipment acquisitions, the infrastructure thus created and the overall capabilities cannot be realigned easily or in a reasonable time-frame. The assimilation and optimum exploitation of equipment take a couple of years and its life-span in our environment due to the paucity of funds and inability for early replacement could extend up to four decades.

The need for judicious use of financial allocations for defence cannot be over-emphasised. This can be possible only if there is long-term joint planning and assured financial support for such plans: at least covering five-year periods at a time. It is only under the CDS system that synergy and optimum utilisation of financial resources can create the most appropriate capabilities to face the security challenges of the future. The country cannot rise to a position of eminence in the international power play if the three Services have their own priorities, and joint planning, both in the acquisition of assets and operations, is missing.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080317/edit.htm#4 

The house of Bagrian

The house of Bagrian
by Harwant Singh

THE house of Bagrian is closely linked with the spread of Sikhism in the Malwa region of Punjab. Guru Arjun Dev Ji and later Guru Hargobind Sahib baptised the successive descendants of the family, i.e. Sindhu and Rup Chand. In recognition of the services of Rup Chand in the Sikh cause, Guru Hargobind named him as his own brother and bestowed on him the benediction of langer, a free kitchen, which to this day feeds the poor and those who visit the place. Thus came into use the family name ‘Bhaika’. This benevolence was further graced when the last Guru, ordained that the descendants of the family would be considered as his descendants. Two of the brothers from the Bagrian family had accompanied Guru Gobind Singh to Nanded Sahib. Sir Lepel Griffin in his book, ‘Chiefs and Families of Note’ records that the house of Bagrian has been a beacon of spiritual light to the Sikh ruling princes and the Sikhs in general.

In 1754, the Mughal Governor presented to the family the village of Bagrian along with 29 other villages. Bagrian became a seat of Sikh spiritual thought and has been prominently associated with various Panthic and public institutions and the Sikh Sabha movement, especially under the guidance of His Holiness Bhai Sahib Bhayee Arjan Singh.

The House of Bagrian has served the cause of Sikh faith for close to four centuries. Raja Gajpat Singh of Jind was blessed with a daughter but the despicable custom of those days was to kill most of the female children at birth. Accordingly Gajpat Singh had placed the female child in a pitcher to be buried. At that moment Bhai Guddar Singh of Bagrian arrived and told Gajpat Singh that the girl he had put in the pitcher to be buried, will, in due time give birth to an ‘avenger’ who will rout the Mughals and establish a great kingdom in the Punjab. That girl later gave birth to Ranjit Singh. Maharaja Ranjit Singh visited Bagrian in 1807 to pay homage to the then head of the Bagrian family, Bhai Sahib Singh.

The eldest son of Arjan Singh, Bhai Sahib Ardaman Singh, was born on September 20, 1899, in Bagrian village. His early schooling was from Ludhiana and for his graduation he attended Khalsa College, Amritsar. Bagrian House in Simla became the confluence of many thinkers, statesmen and enlightened Sikh scholars, the likes of Bawa Harikishen Singh, Principal Teja Singh, Bhai Kahn Singh of Nabha, Baba Prem Singh Hotimardan, Sardar Sardoor Singh Cavishar etc.

Bhai Sahib Ardaman Singh was an enlightened soul, deeply immersed in Sikh religious philosophy, nit naem and meditation. His scholarly bent of mind, profound knowledge of Sikhism, erudition and saintly disposition evoked reverence and gave him a place of eminence amongst the Sikhs. He was the guiding light and source of inspiration for various Sikh associations and their work. His 100th birth anniversary falls on September 20, 1999. To commemorate the occasion his book entitled “Thoughts of Bhai Ardaman Singh” is being released by Bhai Ashok Singh.


http://www.tribuneindia.com/1999/99sep20/edit.htm#8

Generals and soldiers

Generals and soldiers
by Harwant Singh

There was a time when generals operated at the firing line and in the very thick of the battle and soldiers could see them. Napoleon invariably positioned himself where the fighting was most intense and had a few horses shot under him. It was said that his presence on the battlefield equalled forty thousand troops. Addressing his troops before the battle of Austerlitz, he promised them that he would not expose himself to enemy fire. Such was his standing with the troops. 

Even during World War II many generals often positioned themselves with the leading troops. Rommel and Patton, to mention only two, were the shining example. In our own context, Rajinder Singh Sparrow, as GOC of our armoured division, was frequently seen manoeuvring his jeep amongst the leading tanks during the tank battles of Phillora in 1965 on the Sialkot front. On the Punjab front, Harbaksh Singh as army commander, frequently set aside his personal safety and was often seen right at the front. 

Presence of such senior officers upfront has electrifying effect on the troops and creates an invisible and enduring bond between them, especially when they are victorious, though not always so. Troops know when they are needlessly thrown into battle and avoidable casualties are inflicted on them.
During the American Civil War, Joe E Johnston (a lesser known general) commanded one part of the Confederation army, while the other was commanded by that famous and most respected general in US history, Robert E Lee. 

As commander of the Confederation forces in Georgia, Johnston conducted a long and skillful retreat against Sherman’s superior forces, never winning a battle but giving Sherman a bloody nose, now and then in that long retreat. The President finally sacked Johnston for his continued retreat.
At the Confederate memorial service in Atlanta, he was assigned an open carriage, escorted by the governor’s cavalry. The parade had hardly begun, when a voice from the crowd shouted, “that is Joe Johnston, yes old Joe.” Dozen men , ( by now de-mobilised ) then hundred burst from the crowd and surrounded the carriage, stretching out their hands to their old commander. 

Someone unhitched the horses, the men took hold of the traces and pulled the carriage through the length of the parade route, cheering him widely. The evidence of their devotion nearly caused the old man to break down. Witnesses saw tears coursing down his weathered cheeks.
When Johnston died Sam Watkins of First Tennesse Regt offered the most appropriate epitaph, “Such a man was Joe Johnston and such his record. Farewell old fellow! We private loved you because you made us love ourselves.”

Those who served in his army remembered him as, “one who would do whatever was necessary to ensure that they were well fed and well shod and he would never throw them into battle thoughtlessly.”




http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080524/edit.htm#5

‘Madoffed’ at Chandigarh

‘Madoffed’ at Chandigarh
by Harwant Singh

We would not have known Maydoff in such detail had we not been in the US, where for over a month he stayed on the front pages of American newspapers. Further, he lived only a few blocks from where we stayed in Manhattan. 

Madoff’s’ contribution to the US society is considerable. He has pauperised many millionaires and added a new lexicon to the American vocabulary: “Madoffed”, simply stated means swindled. There is no better introduction than to describe him as the father of the mother of all ponzy schemes.
Bernard L. Madoff created the largest Ponzi scheme in history. At a rough count, it is 50 billion dollars. The victims range from Jewish relatives, friends, acquaintances, lawyers, inheritance millionaires to banks manned by some of the cleverest financial experts. Some victims who lived in the lap of luxury are now in a state of penury. 

Most of them were members of the Palm Beach Club, where membership costs a fortune and it is here in this seven-star luxury that the victim had to lobby a great deal to be introduced to Madoff for an opportunity to invest in his scheme.

The essential ingredients of a Ponzy scheme are winning the trust of the investor through the display of supreme confidence, painting an exceptionally rosy picture and assuring a huge income on investment and initially following it up by actual payments of hefty returns. Have a couple of respectable “front-men” and put them in a posh office, from where they can rope in friends, acquaintances and the unwary. 

Returns are not out of investments but from new deposits, and once this cycle is established the scheme has a smooth sailing till new investors stop showing up. Slowly, the returns keep coming down and at some calculated point the promoters disappear with the deposits.

Such schemes are not a speciality of America alone. They are everywhere and a few of these flourished in Chandigarh too. Golden Forest erected show-piece properties to rope in the clever. Retired military men, unaccustomed to the wicked ways of the world, were roped in as “points-men”. That gave these companies a semblance of respectability and dependability. 

Friends got the assurance of safety and people fell over each other to hand in their hard-earned savings. Greed was the over-riding impulse. Inevitably, they all were “Madoffed.” 

Indian courts got into the act where promoters pleaded innocence. They spent a short period in prison and came out to enjoy this ill-gotten wealth. On the other hand, it is to Madoff’s credit that he made a clean breast when he told the court that “he was giving money to investors, which was not there.”  

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090304/edit.htm#5

Conscription need not be the solution

Conscription need not be the solution
by Harwant Singh

For a long time there has been a deficiency of eleven to twelve thousand officers in the Indian army. In a country plagued by endemic unemployment, such large deficiencies can only be explained in terms of the unattractiveness of military service in India. Since independence, the politico-bureaucratic combine have been working over time to render military service worthless and consequently it has become the very last option for the youth.

Both in terms of pay and status, the military has been brought down, in a sustained and systematic manner, and it has now hit rock bottom. On its part, the military has been pleading, both with the government and successive pay commissions, for a fair dispensation for the troops and officers in the defence forces, but to no avail.

In a desperate attempt the military tried to avail the services of an advertising agency, at a huge cost, to show case a career in the military, but this too seems to have drawn a blank. The fact is that no advertising agency can whitewash the obvious drawbacks of a career in the Indian military. Because no informed and discerning person can possibly miss the unenviable position in which the military has been placed. 

Therefore, as a last option, the army chief has fielded the idea of conscription to meet the shortfall. His concern is on two counts. One, endemic shortage in the officer cadre and second, those already in it want to troop out in large numbers. He could not have gone public on the issue without coming to the conclusion, after meeting failure on all fronts (government and successive pay commissions ) that there will continue to be lack of volunteers and that the only option left is conscription.
Considering constraints of training facilities, not more than two thousand per year would be conscripted, which for India is not even a drop in the ocean. However in a liberal democracy, the very idea of conscription does not appeal. Yet national security is not something that can be outsourced!

It is essential to know as to why suitable young men are not willing to join the military and those already in it want to leave in large numbers. There are far too many disadvantages, such as poor promotion prospects, inadequate pay and allowances, early retirement, long periods in non family stations in remote and uncongenial environments with attendant medical problems, running two establishments, disturbance in children’s education, risk to life in an unending fight against insurgents and all the other travails, attendant to life in the Indian military. All these can be clubbed under what may be called the ‘ X’ factor, which has to be duly compensated. Even glamour has gone out of military service.

Consider this. Only at the threat of resignation, were the service chiefs able to get, ‘running pay band’ for their officers as a compensation for extremely limited promotion avenues and early retirement etc, from the Fourth Pay Commission. The same with rank pay, in addition to basic pay, upto the rank of brigadier. Through a sleight of hand the rank pay was deducted from the basic pay, bringing these officers back to square one. The Fifth Pay Commission went the whole hog to further disadvantage the services.

This then is how the defence forces of the country have been dealt with by successive Pay Commissions with the tacit support from the government. No wonder the shortages, lower standards of intake not withstanding, persist. There is near exodus from the army and the IAF. Therefore, the question, who will soldier for the country!

During our meeting with the PM at Punjab Raj Bhavan, when I pointed out to him that inspite of promises from the President down to the defence minister for grant of ‘one rank one pension,’ only the other ranks upto havaldars have been given some monetary increase in their pension whereas JCOs and officers have been left out.

He was completely surprised. Since then JCOs have been given increase in their pension but officers have been again left in the cold; their case to be dealt by the Sixth Pay Commission. There is no defence services officer on the Sixth Pay Commission nor any one on the staff for the preparation of the report. 

There have been serious problems in the management of the officer cadre, be cause of its pyramidal structure, which is a service imperative. But any further tampering with it, by increasing numbers in the higher ranks, will be detrimental to the service. There is a strong case to enlarge the short service cadre and on completion of 5 years service there should be assured induction into state and central police, civil services and or professional training institutions, depending on qualifications, choice and suitability. There should be a statutory provision to this end. Such a course would be more in keeping with democratic values rather than conscription and at the same time resolve the perennial problem of cadre management and shortages. 

The rank and file in the military is equally if not more disadvantaged than the officer cadre. There are no shortages because of unemployment in the country. Even here the better material goes to state police, CPOs and other government avenues and only the left over seeks entry into military.
A soldier retires at the age of 34 to 38 years. There is no alternate job for him. His pension, because of lesser length of service and 33 years conditionality works out to less than half of that of a peon from the government. He is the same soldier to whom the PM gave the award of ‘Indian of the year’ at the NDTV award ceremony, only a few days earlier!

Responding to the army chiefs loud thinking on the issue of conscription, the defence minister stressed the need to create more facilities and better pay packets to make a job in the defence services more attractive rather than resort to conscription. Such false promises have been made by the politicians in the past as well. Perhaps Mr Antony is of a different genre.


http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080128/edit.htm#7

Officers and orderlies

Officers and orderlies
by Harwant Singh

In the military, a soldier is assigned to an officer to attend to his small personal requirements such as prepare his dress, serve bed tea, keep his room in good order, etc. This sets the officer free to deal with more important issues demanding his attention.

A few years ago, someone thought that the term “orderly” was not in keeping with the democratic norms and decided to rename him as “Sahayak” though his range of duties and commitments remain the same.

Over time a strong relationship builds between the officer and his orderly (sorry Sahayak). The latter would go to any extent to make his officer comfortable. Thus an orderly of a Polish officer during World War II would bring hot meals from the enemy kitchen for his officer. He continued with this enterprise for quite some time till one day he was found out and taken prisoner.

When General Musservy came to India to attend the centenary celebrations of his regiment so did his long time Sahayak. The two went into a long hug with tears flowing down their wrinkled cheeks.
Sahayaks not only attend to the basic needs, but often proffer advice to the officer. While I was working as a staff officer, my Sahayak finding that I was not regular with the morning physical training would often lecture me on the need for an officer to remain physically fit. He continued lecturing me till the annual test of a five-mile run where I beat him by a wide margin. After that he never brought up the subject of physical fitness.

During training camps, the officers are accommodated in tents of various sizes, depending on rank. Camp equipment is an essential requirement, such as camp cot, a hurricane lamp, an odd stool or table and in the bath tent, the necessary items like foot board, bucket, mug, stool and a commode, better known as “thunderbox”, etc.

We were on one such camp when a young officer, straight from the academy, arrived late in the evening. He was assigned a tent and a Sahayak. On discovering that the officer had just his bedding and a small box with none of the camp essentials listed above, Sahayak was in a quandary.
The young officer after leaving his baggage with his Sahayak went to the officer’s mess. After dinner everyone moved to their respective tents and so did this officer. On opening the flap of his tent he found that his bedding was neatly laid out on a camp cot, there was a hurricane lamp, stool, a hanger or two for his clothes and the bathroom was fully equipped with a bucket full of water, “thunderbox”, etc. He felt happy at having come to a regiment where they took such good care of their officers!

He was immersed in these pleasant thoughts when someone shouted that his camp cot was missing and soon more protests were heard regarding other items. A search commenced and item by item were traced to this newly arrived officer’s tent. One by one these items were taken away with this officer helplessly watching the proceedings. Soon his bedding was on the floor and nothing else left with him.

Throughout these unseemly proceedings the officer’s Sahayak remained in the shadows and when every item was taken away, he was overheard telling another Sahayak, “Mein ta sub kuch ekatha kar detha se, par saab kolon sambhalya hi nahin gaya.” (I had collected everything, but the sahib could not consolidate his hold on these!)


http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080326/edit.htm#5

Problems of defence forces

How budget allocations fail to provide remedies
Harwant Singh

Finance Minister Jaswant Singh in his hour-long budget speech did not make a mention of the security scene in the region or the rationale for the financial allocations for defence. In his book, “Defending India”, he records, “National security is acknowledged as the first charge on the treasury.” Elsewhere he notes, “It is self-evident that resource inelasticity affects all government spending, including expenditure on defence. But it stands equally established that the armed forces cannot be permitted to degrade by denying them the monies to modernise and to keep them in fighting shape. That would be to court grave national danger.” 

True to his beliefs, the Finance Minister raised the allocations for defence to 3.1 per cent of the GDP from the average of 2.3 per cent of the last many years. Undeniably, the meagre financial support to the armed forces during the last decade and a half has resulted in their degradation. To correct this adverse situation, sustained allocation of 3.5 to 4 per cent of the GDP will need to be allocated to defence in the coming decade. This level of financial support for the defence budget is affordable and sustainable.

The re-organisation of the MoD and its merger with the defence headquarters was aimed at streamlining the procedures, cut out duplication and triplication of work, bring about substantial savings, speed up the decision-making process, etc. Similarly, the formation of a Defence Procurement Board (DPB) under the Defence Secretary with a Special Secretary, Acquisitions, and separate land, maritime, air and systems divisions, besides a separate finance division as part of this set-up, was expected to reduce the time taken for new acquisitions of weapons and equipment. This has not happened and consequently, as during the previous years, more than Rs 900 crore as an unutilised amount from the capital expenditure head, allotted during the financial year 2002-2003, was surrendered. This, in spite of the fact that Special Secretary, Acquisitions, had considerable experience in the field of defence acquisitions.

It is generally perceived that the value of a rupee spent on defence is about the same as that of a rupee spent on social services/development. In reality, this is not so. While a large percentage of monies spent on social services/development are siphoned off into private pockets, those spent on defence are more focused and result-oriented. This is due to greater discipline and accountability in the defence services. Also a good part of the defence budget is spent on infrastructure such as housing, roads, hospitals and clinics which eventually adds up to social services and national assets.
In another area, the defence services do not get the full worth of the funds made available to them. There are a great many reasons for this unhappy situation. Not the least of these being the archaic and bureaucratic procedures of the MoD, its recent reorganisation notwithstanding, where decisions are delayed for years resulting in higher costs and continued lower defence capabilities.

Almost the entire range of major defence equipment is imported, often at inflated costs. This in spite of the setting up of Defence Science Organisation soon after Independence with the sole purpose of making the country self-reliant in defence technologies and equipment. This organisation has grown manifold and is now called the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) with a network of 52 laboratories/establishments. It is a full-fledged department of the MoD and takes up approximately 5 to 6 per cent of the defence budget. Its mandate has been the development of emerging technologies required for defence weapons and equipment for future programmes. In this basic task the DRDO has singularly failed with the result that almost every piece of major weapon systems and equipment (in many cases even minor equipment such as items of snow clothing, etc) has to be imported at a high cost.

In countries where defence equipment is indigenously produced, it creates jobs and develops technologies, which find use in civil application and boosts the overall economy of the country. This obviously does not happen in India where, by importing thousands of crores of equipment every year, we merely add to another country’s economy and employment. The constant depreciating value of the rupee, too, has been resulting in our getting less for more money. In this sad situation there has been no individual or organisational accountability. Above all, it has made us totally dependent on one source for the supply of defence equipment and spares, etc, which, in the event of drying up of that source, as it happened on the break-up of the USSR, can result in serious voids in weapons and equipment serviceability and re-supply.

Most of the other requirements of the defence services are met by the Ordinance Factories, which since World War II have worked on the philosophy of “cost plus”. With the defence services as the captive customers and the virtual elimination of the private sector (competition), the defence budget has been compelled to bear the entire burden of wasteful expenditure, overheads, over-staffing, outdated production techniques and technologies and idle labour of the defence PSUs. Through a skewed system of pricing, the defence PSUs not only fix the prices on their own but also the MoD allows them to charge an additional 10 per cent to the self-determined cost.

Consequently, the defence services have been paying much more than the fair price of the goods received from the defence PSUs. Often the goods are shabby and substandard. Thus, in this area too the defence services have been short-changed and the defence rupee is made to travel less. The current move to open up defence industry to the private sector is less likely to meet much success, because private enterprise requires substantial investments and this can happen only if firm long-term projections of requirements are made.

On the one hand, long-term planning by the services has never found favour with the MoD, and on the other, financial allocations on a long-term basis have never been forecast or assured. This situation is less likely to be set right in the near future. Consequently, not much involvement and investment from the private sector can be expected in this area. In fact, most of the defence PSUs need to be privatised and that by itself will bring in competition with all the attendant benefits. Only very limited areas of defence production have security implications, and in their case it is possible to introduce certain safeguards.

Of the funds made available for the maintenance of buildings and other assets, 60 to 70 per cent of these are used up towards the pay and allowances of the Military Engineering Services staff (MES). Therefore, out of the meagre allocations made for the upkeep and maintenance of buildings and other infrastructure, the bulk is eaten up by this surplus staff of the MES, resulting in the continued deterioration of these assets. Here again the defence services are able to extract less mileage out of the sums allotted.

Much too frequently the defence forces are called out in aid of the civil administration. The expenditure thus incurred is required to be reimbursed to the defence services. But often this does not happen and such expenditure, which is substantial in financial terms, is eventually borne by the defence sector and this results as an additional burden on its budget.

The sub-allocation of the defence budget to the three services is often an ad hoc exercise based on lobbying and bears little relevance to the building of desired capabilities to meet the emerging threats to national security in the medium and long term. The correction can be applied only if the security scene in the region is accurately assessed, its implications in the light of national interest determined, and the best force combination worked out. 

Such an assessment and evaluation could take place only when a full-fledged Chief of Defence Staff, with appropriate authority, is installed. Till then the MoD will continue to play one service against the other and resort to adhocism in resolving urgent defence issues. 

Such whimsical distribution of financial resources can only result in lop-sided force structuring, devoid of balance and rationale. Short-and-medium-term security concerns of the country relate to cross-border terrorism, proxy wars and the building of viable deterrence capabilities. Therefore, our equipping policy, force structuring and consequently service-wise financial allocations should correspond to our likely responses, and eventually and yet gradually get tailored into long-term security needs.

The writer, a retired Lieut-General, is a former Deputy Chief of Army Staff.


http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030312/edit.htm#4

Revamp the DRDO

Cut its size and retain the best
by Lt-Gen (retd) Harwant Singh

For a long time, it has been the contention of the armed forces that all is not well with the DRDO. There has been a demand for a science audit of its working. If you are a self-respecting and a proud Indian then at every Republic Day Parade your national pride must take a dip, because almost all of the military equipment on display – after over five decades of effort at self-reliance, indigenous development and production – is imported.

A thorough revamp and review of DRDO has finally been ordered by the Government. The credit for bringing this much delayed action must go to the Parliamentary Committee on Defence.
The sad story is that even after 58 years of effort, the state of the Defence Technology and Industrial Base is such that indigenous development of weapons and equipment capability continues to elude us and India remains the largest importer of defence equipment in the world.
We import even low technology equipment such as rifles (1,00,000 in 1993-94 and even later) snow clothing items, bullet proof jackets, and of course UAVs, tanks, guns, aircraft, anti-tank missiles, a range of other missiles, radars – the list is endless, because the efforts by the DRDO to develop these have been unsuccessful.

The DRDO budget has been 5 to 6 per cent of the defence budget with allocations for major projects such as LCA, Arjun tank, Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), Advanced Technical Vehicle etc being over and above this budgeted figure. Much of this amount has gone into lavish civil works, seven star messes and foreign tours. There is absolutely no accountability in this organisation. While various projects have shown little or no progress, the project managers have continued to move up the promotion ladder.

There has been little understanding and mutual confidence between the DRDO and the users – the defence services. The DRDO has never spelt out its technological status in relation to the equipment to be developed or any of the necessary defence technologies. With the result the GSQRs (General Staff Qualitative Requirements – features and performance parameters of the desired equipment/weapon system) is prepared without proper interaction with the DRDO, and consequently is pitched higher than the latter’s technological potential. The DRDO never sought the scaling down of the GSQRs to a level which it can handle, in the full knowledge and belief that the project can be dragged on endlessly and that no one will be called upon to account.

Once the GSQR is in its hand, a closed-door activity commences with no further interaction with the users. This lack of interaction with the user during the developmental stage is best illustrated in the case of tank-tracks for the Arjun tank. The head of the then DRDO was a specialist in metallurgy and insisted on fitting the Arjun with an aluminum alloy track; perhaps with a view to reduce the weight.

Now even a grade 3 tank driver would have told him that a 50 ton (Arjun turned out to be nearly 60 tons) tank with a 1400 HP engine moving at high speed and taking sharp turns in rough terrain will rip open an aluminum alloy track. But we wasted more than 3 years and incurred much expenditure before this simple realisation dawned and finally a steel alloy track had to be imported.

There are innumerable other examples of such disconnect between the users and the DRDO. There have been efforts to develop systems where DRDO had no expertise whatsoever. Engines for the Arjun tank and the LCA are ready examples. In the case of Arjun, the development of the engine could have been outsourced to one of the country’s leading diesel engine manufacturers, instead of doing years of experimentation at a huge cost, ending in complete failure.

The DRDO in stand-alone mode has achieved little and will not be able to meet the future needs of the armed forces. It has shown little capability in even reverse engineering of comparatively simple equipment. It needs to have a strategic tie-up with the R&D of some advanced country.

This realisation dawned on the government and it formed an inter-governmental commission for military technology cooperation with the Russian government and later with some others for joint development of cutting-edge defence technologies. Cooperation in military technologies between two or more entities is the business of sharing and building on strengths of each other.

Given the present state of talent in the DRDO, it will turn out to be a one-sided affair ending in, essentially, transfer of technology and the attendant cost. Perhaps down-sizing and restructuring of DRDO has become unavoidable.

If the newly formed committee for recommending changes in DRDO is to make a positive impact on the future indigenous development of defence technologies, production of defence equipment within the country and export of defence equipment, it need to consider these measures:
Close down those establishments of DRDO which are busy re-inventing the wheel, and those whose tasks can best be done in the private sector; down size the DRDO and retain only the best talent. Offer VRS to the dead wood with which the DRDO is packed to the brim; do away with most of the Defence Ordnance Factories.

Restructure the MoD as an integrated organization consisting of bureaucrats, defence services staff, scientists and financial experts for better coordination, cutting out duplication and triplication of work, improved efficiency, speedy decision making, integrated defence planning and defence technology development.

Implement the Arun Singh Committee report as accepted by the cabinet and adopt the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) system. Place DRDO with the CDS for mutual confidence and better interaction with the services; bring about accountability at every level; where required, get foreign technical experts to work in India; make service in the DRDO really attractive.



http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070319/edit.htm#6

Chiding the chiefs

Political leaders have undermined military morale
by Lt. Gen (retd) Harwant Singh

Both Jawaharlal Nehru and Krishna Menon were known to be impolite and in fact abrasive in dealing with the higher command of the military. They took little note of their advice on strategic issues, which finally led to the military high command becoming reticent. There occurred a yawning gap in the inter-action between them and the political executive. This was to eventually lead to the 1962 debacle with China and national humiliation.

Jaswant Singh’s upbraiding of the Chief of Army Staff on the latter’s clarifications during a TV interview on the Chinese patrols crossing the Line of Actual Control (LAC ) along the Tibet border is nothing new. Political leaders, even when holding positions in government, often indulge in criticising serving chiefs.

They are quite oblivious of the effect it would have on future interaction with the chiefs and of course the fall out on morale and discipline of the defence services. Jaswant comes from a family with a strong military tradition and is a former military officer from a famous cavalry regiment. Above all, he has been a defence minister. Therefore, his using intemperate language against the COAS for saying nothing more than what his minister said on the issue, is rather inexplicable.
When at a press briefing, during the mobilisation of the Indian defence forces, consequent to the attack on the Indian Parliament, the then COAS, General Padmanabhan., responding to a searching question from the press on the possible use of nuclear weapons by an opponent, gave an unambiguous, forthright and pointed reply.

It was entirely in line with the ‘Indian Nuclear Doctrine’ as spelled out in the document on the subject, prepared by the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB). The document is unclassified and in the public domain. More over, the Defence Minister himself had aired similar views a few days earlier Yet the Defence Minister, George Fernandes, went ahead to chide him and term his handling of the subject at the press conference as ‘cavalier.’

One cannot help but recall the earlier sordid and disgraceful act of sacking of the Naval Chief by the government, consequent to the machinations by the then defence secretary (who himself was severely indicted by the Delhi High Court in another case), and the gross mishandling of the case by George Fernandes.

But the present Defence Minister, A.K. Antony, is surely of a different genre. Yet he too thought no better of rebuking the naval chief on the latter’s objecting to Russia substantially jacking up the already agreed upon price, and paid for in 2004, for the Gorshkov aircraft carrier being refitted in Russia. The aircraft carrier is now expected to be delivered in 2011 instead of 2008, the date earlier agreed upon.

Obviously, our political class is not schooled in the handling of such delicate matters and the possible fallout, on the rank and file, of their publicly denigrating the service chiefs.
No wonder an army commander openly flouts his chief ’s orders and refuses to accept his posting, from one army command to another, kicking up much dust in the process. Therefore, when a TV anchor, at prime time, with two major-generals (Ashok Metha and Afzal Karim) in attendance, commenting on the dust kicked up by the army commander under reference, called the Chief of the Army Staff as ‘Thief of the Army Staff,’ it came as no surprise.

Military ethos does not permit even the ticking-off an appointment holder in the presence of his command, no matter how high-ranking an officer or dignitary attempting to do so may be. This public rebuke of the Chief of the Army Staff gravely undermines his position.

In reply to another question, in the same interview, General Padmanabhan quite rightly brought out the fact that keeping the morale of the army high was his business. With his own position discredited by his Minister, he would have found it difficult to sustain the morale of troops.
The place of the Chief of Army Staff is unique in the military scheme of things and he must be seen, by his officers and men, as infallible and beyond reproach. Any attempt to openly denigrate him is bound to seriously compromise his position and adversely affect the implicit faith and confidence the Service must have in him.

Admittedly the Indian political class, unlike in most other countries, has no military background or schooling in good manners, but self-education on matters military is possible; definitely by the defence minister, at the very least.

This brings us to the issue of service chiefs airing their views on issues directly related to their job and troops. When the British government decided to send troops for the invasion of Iraq, to join American forces, the Chief of Defence Staff of Britain, Sir Michael Boyce demanded an unequivocal statement from his government that the invasion of Iraq was lawful.

The armed forces were given an assurance that the conflict would not be illegal. Without it, Boyce felt, “his troops could have laid themselves open to charges of war crimes.” In India, the COAS asking for such an assurance from the Government before moving troops to Sri Lanka would have kicked up a storm.

Finally, Winston Churchill, speaking on the subject said: “The Indian Army is not so much an arm of the executive branch, as it is of the Indian people. Military professionals have the duty and obligation to ensure that the people and political leaders are counselled and alerted to the needs and necessities of military life. This cannot be done by adhering to the notion of the military profession as a silent order of monks isolated from the political realm.” 


http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080328/edit.htm#6