Irrespective of the products purchased — be they submarines, guns, coffins or helicopters — defence deals are not free from graft and kickbacks. This is clear from the exposes of a series of procurement deals.
Even an honest man at the helm of the Defence Ministry could do pretty little to stem the rot and make a difference to the Defence procurement regime, though he initiated measures such as introducing “integrity clause” in the contracts in an earnest attempt to root out the choking weeds of corruption.
The Rs 3600-crore chopper deal is one more example of how using dubious methods to make easy money is still endemic in the defence establishment. Institutions are in place in other countries to probe into 'financial malpractices and political kickbacks'.But in India, such things happen only when the media bring them to light. In a bid to “politicise” the issue, BJP calls it “second Bofors scam”. G. David Milton
Cleaning the Ganga
Though cleaning the Ganga is always on our minds and in the plans of government, there is no real action.
“A holy river or mere sewer?” ( Business Line , Feb 14) ignites the fire again. There is no dearth of funds or plans. But unless we take action to end the pollution caused by the towns and villages, industries and garbage, flowing into the river, it may not be possible to clean it. Cleaning the Ganga is a most urgent task if we are to be a clean and healthy nation.
Jacob Sahayam
Thiruvanthapuram
Oil’s not well
The impressive results posted by IOC for the fiscal 2013-14 add credence to the public perception that these companies are flourishing at the cost of the public at large, going by the frequent, steep and unjustified hikes in petrol prices. It is high time that the Government came out with a white paper on how these companies make such huge profits.N.Vijayagopalan
Trivandrum