Ensuring Defence preparedness is not the responsibility of the armed forces. In a Parliamentary democracy like India, it is the civilian government that has to procure what is best available within its resources. Generally, middlemen earn commissions and decision-makers are paid kickbacks. In India, middlemen are not allowed and kickbacks are seen as bribes and, therefore, giving and taking are strictly prohibited. Therefore, there can be no escaping the focus on kickbacks.
Nowadays, with the signing of the ‘integrity pact’, companies cannot pay bribes and influence officials. Income Tax or Enforcement Departments do alert the governments on the suspicious presence of middlemen in transactions. The ‘pact’ or the ‘alert’ are sufficient reasons to check the money trail, identify the recipient of the gratis and punish the giver and taker.
But when action is not taken at the whiff of a scandal, major political turmoil erupts. In that circumstance, to fob off media or the opposition parties, an easy way out is to cancel the order itself. This can certainly result in setting back the armed forces which awaits the delivery of the equipment. If due diligence and transparency is maintained at every stage, then cancellation as a fire-fighting option can be avoided. In addition, India has ratified transnational organised crimes related treaties.
This has systematised and facilitated obtaining of information on international bribery rackets.
In the recent past, the then army chief had approached the Raksha Mantri to inform him of his next in command approaching him with an intention to bribe. It is history now that no action was taken to eliminate bribes or kickbacks. No one was even tried, not to speak of being convicted. Public faith and armed forces’ morale are badly hit due to lack of timely action.
Putting acquisition on hold, cancelling an order, and reduced morale of the forces — all affect preparedness. There is no substitute for timely administrative and legal action. Only such measures ensure the guilty are punished and the kickback recovered.
Cancelling an order at the “whiff of corruption’ ignores the detailed exercise undertaken to identify the highly specialised need for an equipment. Identifying its suppliers, conducting test trials, obtaining the civilian approvals, going for global tenders, are time-consuming processes before they reach the delivery stage. There are institutions at each level to take a considered decision, such as the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) at the apex level.
In the name of personal integrity or to fend off opposition cancelling orders without seeking institutional solutions can adversely impact preparedness.
This was best reflected in the External Affairs Minister’s statement, “We don’t want to overreact because we don’t want to let this affect our defence preparedness.”
India was expected to spend about $100 billion on Defence, although the Defence capital outlay for 2012-13 was cut down by 10 per cent. These are aimed at better preparedness. Kickbacks are illegal and focusing on them is but unavoidable and necessary.
(The author is National Spokesperson, Bharatiya Janata Party.)