Ministry of Defence does not want to lag behind other ministries of the Union government in contributing to the good governance philosophy of NDA government. In the context of Good Governance Day observed on December 25 coinciding with the birthday of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the Ministry has issued instructions to its subordinates and sub-organizations listing its priorities for implementation without loss of time. It has started with focusing on the issue of court cases involving the Ministry in a number of aspects like pensions, cantonment areas, interface with civilian authorities, and One Rank – One Pension issue which has been hanging fire for a long time. One evil that has been haunting the Ministry is the defamation that is usually earned out of arms deals with foreign suppliers. We are among the world’s largest buyers of arms related to all the three wings. Past practice has brought home to the Indian authorities that there are enormous kick backs in these deals and that leads to big scams bringing defamation to the ministry. The impact of this phenomenon has been so intense that a former Defence Minister was compelled to concede that one of the reasons why he did not go in for large scale defence purchases during his tenure was that kick back scenario haunted him gravely.
This apart, the Defence Minister has instructed all concerned that the number of court cases in service matters and pension should be brought down to minimum by settling these at great speed. Defence Ministry does not want to drag on the court cases indefinitely as it saps energy and creates negative impression about the ministry with the personnel. Why should not the rules and procedures be implemented without delay and why complications are created for the parties? The question of One Rank One Pension has been hanging fire with the Ministry for a long time. In the past, promises and commitments have been made but the issue remains unresolved.
Accountability and transparency are among important facets of good governance. There is also need to respond to public grievances through modern methods of reciprocity. That Defence Ministry is going digitised in its administrative system is the highlight of new defence policy pursued by the Defence Ministry. The Ministry’s administrative structure will take recourse to modern technology in streamlining administration and making it efficient. Interface with public would help in settling court cases and thus spare the ministry from wasting its time and energy on matters that should be settled at any cost. With each passing day, the significance of Defence Ministry not only in the defence and security of the country but also in development of the country and especially in making the country self sufficient in producing defence equipment is becoming clear. We want pragmatic leadership in the defence sector with innovative urges so that we can gradually reduce dependence on foreign purchases of defence equipment. Keeping in mind the size of the country and its population, the border line and the sea line that we need to protect and also keeping in mind the hostile policy of our two neighbours, great responsibility devolves on our defence establishment. One cannot rule out the need for our country to have independent ministry of defence production. The needs of our naval force are increasing fast because of our vast coastline and need to mount vigil over the waters of the Indian Ocean through which maximum international trade is routed and where China is trying to establish its supremacy.
Improving efficiency of our armed forces as well as security forces has also attained special significance in view of terrorism from various quarters aimed at inflicting damage on our civil society. The activities of Naxalites, Maoists, Jihadis, and other insurgent groups are aimed at weakening the country. This threat has to be met with politically as well as militarily. That again brings more responsibility on our defence and security structures. We hope that all these aspects are very much before the policy planners at the Defence Ministry.
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