Harsha Kakar
The AgustaWestland kickbacks scandal caused a flutter in parliament and brought all work to a standstill. The past few weeks tended to indicate that the nation has only this agenda. The entire parliament session appears to be stalled and no bills are expected to be cleared. However, this is not the first procurement scandal. Amongst other scandals (Jeep, HDW Submarine, Coffingate, Barrack missle and Bofors), Bofors was the most infamous. Each scandal was responsible for stalling defence procurements,which are essential if the military is to continue to maintain a competitive edge over its adversaries. The present government has ordered a scan of all defence deals commenced by the previous Government. Such an action, though correct and logical, would only set a precedence and make future governments hesitate in progressing defence deals.
As a nation, we need to realize a few issues regarding defence procurements. Firstly, our flawed policy since independence of making defence into a sacred cow and keeping the private sector away is responsible for India being amongst the largest purchasers of military equipment. The government only relied on the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) for research and the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) for production. These two organizations had a low technology base for a long time, which is still prevalent in somefields. There has been success, but only been in select technologies. They also held complete veto on all defence procurements and could block iton the basis that it can be developed in-house at a fraction of the cost. The present action of opening defence to the private sector and ‘make in India’ would change this ratio.
Secondly, for decades, we only relied on Russian or correctly put, erstwhile USSR equipment. This was because of the understanding between the two Governments. These purchases were on Government to government deals andequipment moved directly from their factories, therefore no middle men were involved. The equipment was also not put through extensive trials. Thus, irrespective of the quality of products, the Indian army relied on them and employed them well. As a result, for years we operated and fought with Russian aircraft, tanks, artillery guns and submarines.It was only after the break- up of the Soviet Union and increasing problems of spares and repairs, as also our expanding relationship with the US and the west, that we begin looking elsewhere.
Thirdly, in the western world, there are multiple companies producing the near same equipment. Hence competition between companies is immense. This increased competition, especially when the deal is in billions of dollars, can make or break a company. This compels them to resort to any means to obtain success. To ensure that their product is well projected, contacts at the right level need to be cultivated. Further, a small change in the qualitative requirements can include or reject a company. For economic benefits, companies employ agents and they are allocated funds to push cases through. Companies are aware that once their bids are accepted, the money spent would be recovered many times over.
Fourthly, corruption is known to exist in the country. There is no government work done without greasing palms. Any Indian citizen would bear this fact to be true. Bribes are paid even for electric connections and driving licences. Therefore, for companies involved in arms deals, it was an accepted fact. Hence, offer for bribes would come from them. Since the deals were in billions, the bribes were also accordingly large. With passage of time, these bribes became campaign funds for political parties.
Sixthly, political leaders are aware of the slow pace of investigation in such cases and the even slower pace of criminal proceedings. Till date irrespective of the level of scandals, no one has been booked. With every fresh election, the accused party comes to power and the cases get washed under the carpet. A study of earlier scams and kickbacks would prove this aspect. The delay is further compounded by the number of courts through which the case is required to be processed.
However, what causes anguish is the tweaking of requirements and breaking of protocol in the conduct of trials. Once these issues are breached, charges of kickbacks would definitely arise. The higher the authority the more shameful is the acceptance of kickbacks, as it lowers the image and standing of that authority. This is even more pronounced when the individual is part of the uniformed service as his action undoes the honesty of the thousands who battle daily to maintain national security.
For the political leaders, claims of kickbacks and cancelling of deals is an easy task, however, such an action denies the military the capability which it needs for conduct of its tasks and operations. Bofors resulted in no inductions for the artillery for almost two decades, setting the battle winning power horse behind in its modernization plans. Similar claims led to the previous government refusing to clear any defence deals, forcing the military to continue with its outdated and obsolete weaponry. Thus the military could not develop capabilities essential for future battles. Every scrapped deal sets the military back by years, as the entire process has to be repeated. Even basic essentialities like bullet proof jackets were not procured.
Cancelling deals are easy, but the impact at the soldier level is immense. He is still expected to perform and ensure success, but without correct hardware. This becomes a clear case of the political leaders failing in their task of ensuring national security and national preparedness. Therefore, while the government may re-evaluate all previous deals, it needs to realize, that every deal which it cancels, on suspicion of kickbacks sets the military back in its modernization plans and impacts it fighting capability. The solution lies in punishing those responsible and also the company, but ensuring that a similar product is obtained from other sources, for which there is no shortfall. The soldier should not suffer, because people in power possess financial greed and low morals.
(The author is a retired Major General of the Indian Army )
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