Need to ask right questions

By Brig. (Retd.) S.N. Sachadeva

As Julius Caesar was walking towards the Capitol in Rome on the fateful day of his assassination, one of the well-wishers is said to have insistently pressed him to read a petition which, he said, touched the Emperor the most. Caesar scornfully pushed him aside, saying: "What touches us ourself (sic) shall be last served!"

Insofar as India's defence management is concerned, a quick glance at the commentaries on the recent Budget in the media and public fora reveals that, though defence so vitally touches all of us, being irrevocably linked to the nation's security and survival, it has not been served at all, leave alone being last served! Except specialists engaged in study of issues connected with national defence and security, others skirt round this particular area. Even in parliament, matters pertaining to defence are discussed only sporadically and cursorily, with the government sharing with members only the minimum information necessary to have the grants of the defence ministry approved.

This is a strange situation because in scale and magnitude of the government's outlay and expenditure, defence occupies a position next to that of interest payment. With a more than million-strong army, an air force with 35 combat squadrons and a two-fleet navy, India's defence spending has been registering a perceptible rise from Rs. 65,000 crore in 2002-03 to Rs. 65,300 crore in 2003-04, vaulting to Rs. 77,000 crore in 2004-05, Rs. 83,000 crore for 2005-06, Rs. 89,000 crore for 2006-07, Rs. 96,000 crore for 2007-08, and Rs. 1,05,600 crore for 2008-09.

Between 2002-03 and 2008-09, while the total development expenditure rose a 6.8 per cent, the total defence expenditure jumped 15 per cent. (In terms of percentage of GDP, however, India's defence expenditure for 2008-09 is 2.5, much lower than China's 6.86 and Pakistan's 7.5). These few salient indicators are all that is necessary to grasp the importance of citizens taking an active and sustained interest in maintaining the efficacy of the defence apparatus and cultivating an awareness of the inter-connected and synergistic functioning of the three main services and the organisations meant to keep them in the finest fettle possible.

And, yet, defence finds nothing more than skimpy mention, if at all, in important official documents on the activities of the government. Normally, in conjunction with the Budget session, annual reports of all ministries are submitted to parliament; this year even that practice has been given the go-by. The National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP) has this just one cryptic sentence: "The UPA government will ensure that all delays in the modernisation of the armed forces are eliminated and that all funds earmarked for modernisation are spent fully at the earliest".

Some of the critical questions for which no definitive or satisfactory answers have ever been available are: Are available resources put to the best use possible? What deficiencies in defence procurement have resulted in the defence ministry surrendering Rs. 42,000 crore, meant for the purchase of modern weapons in 2007-08? What mechanisms are in place to ensure that there is maximum bang for every buck spent, and wasteful expenditure is curbed? What are the justifications, nature and quantum of subsidisation in the various concessions and facilities provided? What happened to those many defence deals where large sum of kickback were paid to middlemen? In what manner, vigilance has been stepped up to guard against similar occurrences? Is there continued and purposeful coordination among the services, their intelligence outfits and other various branches? What steps are being taken to guard against excessive deployment of defence forces for internal security duties as a convenient surrogate of the civil police?

In sum, the general attitude of everyone not belonging to the charmed circle of insiders in the defence ministry and services headquarters is to leave this esoteric domain to the judgement of the government which is presumed to know what is the best defence policy and strategy for the country. An idea of the immense harm that can be caused by exploiting people's ignorance of defence matters by the governing establishment can be had from the reports of the Senate Intelligence committee in the US and the Hutton and Butler Committees in the UK, which vividly document the way those two countries were dragged into an indefensible and illegal invasion of Iraq on false pretences.

Defence preparedness and strategic readiness were very much the issues in India in the case of the Chinese attack in the North-East in 1962 and the Pakistani incursion in Kargil in 1999. China looked all set to overrun all the North-Eastern States when it declared a unilateral ceasefire and withdrew. It was touch-and-go in Kargil, until the US President, Mr. Bill Clinton, saved the day for India. The military had to fight the Pakistani forces on very unequal terms; reportedly, the two top jobs of Northern Command headquarters were held by officers who had neither commanded a brigade, division or corps in that Command nor were familiar with the terrain, and were directing action banking on aerial surveys in helicopters. Some of the controversies arising from those hostilities are yet to die down.

There is no way the sovereign stakeholders, "We, the People", can come to an independent conclusion on what went wrong and whether the proper lessons have been drawn because till today successive governments have not encouraged any kind of a national discourse on the findings of in-house committees (Henderson Brooks on the Chinese invasion, Mr. Arun Singh on the working of defence establishment, K. Subrahmanyam on Kargil) pointing to the blind spots in its vast military machine and intelligence, setup which could compromise national security.

The inability of parliamentarians and the civil society to ask the right questions at the right moment is bedevilling the formulation and implementation of the right defence policies suited to the occasion and context. No policy can pass muster unless it is integrated with the security environment and draws on the suggestions made in the course of a full-fledged debate in parliament and the country.

The plain truth is that the representative bodies and the public are yet to be taken into confidence on the basic parameters for a correct appraisal of the country's security environment with the result they find themselves excluded from the process of determining whether the defence planning and performance as well as the restructuring and reforms undertaken in 2001 (with many loose ends still to be tied up) are in tune with the security environment based on the application of a fresh and open mind. INAV

Fight negativism

By H.C.Katoch

The highest man of the state deserves appreciation from the citizens for his statement on corruption with his positive remarks," We are No. 2 Honest State." The stigma of corruption on the heads of the people gets washed away through this retaliatory approach. His approach of deduction method is very convincing. Should we say that he is the only man in the state who dared to say which none from any walk of life ever even thought, not to speak, of expressing this view point in such unequivocal terms in any forum or print or electronic media. This gives strength to all honestly working people whether they are public functionaries or engaged in other professions or ventures to earn their livelihood. It is true that values have fallen and temptations are running high every where, but to categorize our state at the 2nd highest level gives no right to any one to play with the self respect and dignity of the people in general. Acceptance of the report of Transparency International amounted to humiliation and disrespect to all of us, as we are a part of the social structure of the state. The Chief Minister's statement has encouraged me to repeat my expressed thoughts in the following paragraphs.

If we compare the set up of our state with other states of the country in functioning or governance and try to analyse the scams involving hundred of crores rupees that have taken place in various parts of the country in different states, probably our state figures nowhere in comparison. We have to go by hard facts and not on the basis of opinions framed by certain individuals and summed up to arrive at certain conclusions. We have our representatives in Parliament and they are not termed as tainted as in case of other states. Similarly, the bureaucracy of this state hardly finds any place for being chosen for declaration of "some most corrupt I.A.S officers" as is being done in other states.

The punishment awarded for corruption to top level functionaries in other states of the country are eye opener." The Chairman Maharashtra Public Commission along with the former UPSC member and Controller of examination were arrested for taking bribes for replacing answer sheets of unsuccessful examines. The Chairman Orissa Public Commission was suspended. The former Vice Chancellor of H.P University was arrested. The former Kerala Chief Secretary and Ex Vice chancellor Sree Sankar University of Sanskrit was sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment and like wise in many more cases in the country rigorous sentences were given to people occupying high positions.

By and large people in the state are God fearing and do not go to extremes for accepting bribes of this order. Corruption is not ruled out in any society, but to malign it by grading is no good done. The state has shown light to other states of the country in social services especially the education sector which is graded as matchless in its functioning. It has sent signals even abroad where it is acknowledged to be top in ranking for universalisation of education. Success stories in developmental sectors of the economy are highlighted through magazines and electronic media that go unnoticed by many. The T&V network of Agriculture Deptt has increased the income of the farmers through diversification of agro pursuits. The extension agencies of other Departments have reached the common man and brought a discernible change in the outlook of the rural masses. The mud houses are now replaced with concrete pucca houses in the rural areas. Electricity, water supply, education and other welfare measures are at the doorsteps of the people.

I would reproduce the extract of the findings by "India Today Group": -

"The India Today Group's "The State of States "3rd Annual awards were given in a grand function at Ashoka Hotel some time back. The best awards were given by the Chief Guest the then Mr. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Vice President of India. Among others the function was attended by Chief Minister's of 14th states and representatives from other states. The function was also attended by Editor-in-Chief India Today, Mr. Aroon Puri and Director Group of Editors Mr. Prabhu Chawla, Union Ministers, Parliament Members and other dignitaries.

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Aroon Puri said that India Today's group has objectively measured the Socio-Economic performance of Indian states during last three years and the study was carried in 17 States throughout the country. The awards were given to the states on their best performances in Investment, Education, Health, Law and Order, Infrastructure, Consumer market, Agriculture and Macro Economic performances.

The Jammu and Kashmir State was declared as one of the best states that had worked for eradication of poverty. The study reveals that the State of Jammu and Kashmir has the least percentage of poor people and it has shown the greatest improvement in removing poverty. The Jammu and Kashmir State emerges as the Pro-poor economic growth and was the gains of growth are trickling down to the poor fastest.

The Vice President of India Mr. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat also released the India Today's special issue on this occasion."

We live in a country where the degree of honesty is more or less the same. The categorization of good or bad or finding fault is no effort that leads to cure the disease, but to suggest and act for its eradication shall be appreciated. Let the NGO not waste its resources and energy in such tasks and do something constructive.

Dependency politics

By Indranil Banerjea

India is passing through a phase of dependency politics, or we can call it GenNext. Every politician is grooming his progeny to take over the reins of power after the exit of the dilapidated present generation. This is a typical Indian phenomenon, which in the long run will harm the national polity.

Having developed no useful marketable skills in life nor done anything worthwhile or creative, they have tended to arbitrage the political positions of their parents (whether departed or living) into gaining access and advantage in Delhi or the state capitals. Nobody had heard of a Putin, Merkel or Sarkozy before they won their way into political power.

The victories of Mayawati and Modi were also defeats of the expectations raised by Rahul Gandhi's Congress. There is a continuity of years between someone like Sonia Gandhi and her children which implies there can be no discontinuous jump from Sonia to Rahul in the leadership of the Congress. In between, as it were, are people like Kamal Nath among "Friends of Sanjay" or Mani Shankar Aiyar (a solitary Rajivist), both of whom have won seats in the Lok Sabha unlike Sonia's current elderly PM.

If Sonia Gandhi devolves political power to her son who then leads the Congress into another defeat, of which UP and Gujarat have been examples, there will be a revolt among senior middle-aged politicians in the Congress, and the Congress may splinter into a right faction and left faction leaving Rajiv Gandhi's family to look after the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation which is what they should have been doing in the first place rather than playing at Indian politics.

Narasimha Rao cleverly manipulated the median parliamentary vote along these two dimensions so as to maintain a weak government in power for five years by seeming to ally with the BJP on economic issues and seeming to ally with Leftists on social issues. If the Congress splits after another major defeat caused by Sonia-Rahul incompetence, with the right faction joining hands with whatever the BJP morphs into, and the left faction joining hands with whatever the CPI-M and CPI question will become which side of the split along the economic dimension holds the median voter along the pro-Muslim/anti-Muslim social dimension.

The idea that e.g. Pramode Mahajan's son could "succeed" him on the 10 Jan Path pattern fortunately self-exploded. The best the BJP could do was to choose an inarticulate member as its nominal head while the patriarchy continued unchanged in its backward communalised thinking. Its RSS parent occasionally shows a little savant-like intelligence but generally remains in mental and physical regression.

As for the so-called Left, its multi-dimensional hypocrisy and incompetence has been permanently exposed in the heartland of what passes for Indian communism, West Bengal. After the demise of the USSR and transition of Communist China towards capitalism/ fascism, there has been no real reason why the CPI and CPI-M cannot merge into one and then renounce together their retrograde ideology in favour of becoming a genuine social democratic and labour party representing working people and the poor.

But that, like any corporate merger, would mean administrative redundancies, retrenchment and new management, and the last thing Stalinist politburo members like is the idea of losing their Rajya Sabha sinecures (in Russia and China they lost their heads but Indian conditions are kinder, gentler, more non-violent).

Besides the Congress, BJP and "Left", most other parties in India resolve around the whims, personality and IQ of some single local political warlord/warlady. The Naxals and other extremists, including Hindu and Muslim religious terrorists, at least make some pretence at representing political interests of some sections of the people; there is thus at least a slight authenticity about them, no matter how disengaged their thought processes may be from realities around them.

The 2008 Budget or the 2009 General Election seem likely to remain in the grip of all such dramatis personae permanently on the Indian stage, and no new real creative constructive force seems likely to appear. Every political misdemeanour will be paid for by endless deficit finance and money-printing, the accounts and auditing of all public institutions shall remain in a shambles while private pockets of the heads of public institutions come to be lined with gold, the armed forces shall be ready to fight their Pakistani counterparts while deferring to any more formidable adversary, rich business, people will continue with their grotesque conspicuous consumption, young people graduating from India's pampered institutions of tertiary education will continue to line up outside foreign embassies to seek hope and escape.

Can India survive as an independent democratic republic for 100-years after 1947, let alone be a country where all citizens are reasonably free and comfortable? A worst-case scenario may see North India in endless conflict with a chaotic Pakistan, Eastern India hived off under Beijing's influence, and peninsular India from Surat to Vizag being Western-dominated with "SEZs" on the pattern of pre-communist Coastal China. The failure of our elite classes to provide healthy creative governance over generations must inevitably result in the putrefaction of our body politic. INAV