Great misses of UPA on Defence front

Under fire in the wake of the resignation of the Indian Navy Chief, the UPA government has in a jiffy given a green signal to the One Rank One Pension (OROP) with an eye on the impending polls. The soldiers’ agitation for the demand has been going on for some years and saw some emotional turns like the veterans returning their bravery medals, but the government repeatedly refused to commit funds to it. 

So much so Arackaparambil Kurien Antony – the longest continuously serving defence minister of the country for 7 years 5 months – expressed inability of the government to give funds for the acquisition of crucial equipment for the armed forces. But as the second term of the Congress-led UPA government is coming to an end here and Antony became notorious for inaction in practically all spheres, making the trust with the Armed Forces its first casualty. Here is a glimpse of the hits and misses of the government vis-à-vis the armed forces – 

Status Quo ­– More than seven years after his appointment, the majority of defence acquisition deals that materialized were with the US. The crucial requirements of the forces are from being fulfilled. The letter of General VK Singh to the Prime Minister two days before his retirement punched holes in the military preparedness of the nation. He highlighted how the second standing army in the world did not have enough firepower – ammunition and artillery. On the artillery front nothing has happened and the last gun that the Army purchased was in 1987.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has been grappling with a string of accidents and has been still awaiting the replacement of its MiG fighter jets and to augment its fighter squadron strength. But a cautious Antony, who earned the sobriquet of Mr. Clean, threw his weight behind the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) – an aircraft in making for over 25 years. The Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft deal is yet to see the light of the day.

The state-of- affair of the Indian submarine arm has been known for a long time. But apart from the fructification of the deal to acquire nuclear-powered Akula class submarine, the dwindling strength of the conventional Submarines, failed to wake the Government from its deep slumber. And the result has been loss of manpower. The relation between the civilian government and the forces saw another low as Indian Navy Chief Admiral DK Joshi put his resignation taking moral responsibility of the accidents and the government swiftly accepted it.

6th Pay Commission- The 6th Pay Commission was touted as the biggest gift of the UPA government to the armed forces. But the forces rued that in the garb of the pay structure was the constant downgrading of the officers of forces in relation to their civil counterparts. 

Defence Minister AK Antony even sided with the three Service Chiefs demanding a representation in the Pay Panel, but nothing happened on this front. The Armed Forces have been demanding fixing of six core anomalies in the 6th Pay Commission. The main demand is granting of Non-functional upgrade in the pay to the armed forces on the lines of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).

National War Memorial- The country has completed 67 years of its independence but its martyred soldiers are yet to get their National war Memorial. Conceptualised in 1960’s, it has not seen any progress. While the three forces have been seeking the memorial to be made at the India Gate, the memorial built by the British to honour the soldiers who sacrificed their lives during World War-I.

The armed forces decision has been governed by the fact that Indian Gate is central and easily accessible to people. The project in limbo for the last few decades has been stuck as the regulatory bodies like Delhi Urban Arts Commission, North Delhi Municipal Corporation, Central Vista Commission and Heritage Conservation Committee have objected to this contending the additional structure will spoil the ambience of the site.

OROP ­­– And it has not been an easily fulfilled demand for the veterans. The veterans of the forces after giving the best part of the life in the service of nation had to fight really hard to get it before the government paid heed to their demand. The veterans even returned their bravery medals to protest the government’s apathy, but the government remained steadfast that they did not have funds for it.

Mishandling of the Age Controversy – The dilly dallying of the Defence Minister on the age controversy and lack of decisiveness saw an unprecedented development as a serving Army Chief General VK Singh took the government to the Supreme Court. While the Supreme Court’s decision favoured government, the episode saw the internal feud of the Army being fought in public and the disregard for the armed forces reputation peeved many ranks and files.

General Singh is joining the BJP today.

VVIP Helicopter Deal- Even as the government continued to go slow on armed forces modernisation, the deal for 12 VVIP choppers from Augusta Westland went through like lightening - compared to the standards of the UPA government. The government was later put in a Catch-22 situation as report filtered about the corruption in the purchase of the expensive rides for the VVIPs of the country.

Field Marshal SHFJ Manekshaw demise - When Field Marshal SHFJ ‘Sam’ Manekshaw – who scripted the India’s decisive victory against Pakistan in 1971 - bid adieu to this world in 2008 neither the Defence Minister nor any of the three armed forces chiefs turned up during the state funeral accorded to him. Antony famously cited that the rank Field Marshal was not included in the protocol list.

The rank of Field Marshal or its equivalent Marshal of the Air Force and Admiral of the Fleet is not there in the protocol list. 

The country’s only surviving five star officer Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh had also rued to me during an exclusive interview in 2008. “It was a surprise for me (senior ministers not attending the funeral). You do not need a rank to be in the protocol list to attend his (Manekshaw's) funeral. He had served the country very well. They should have gone," Singh had said.

65th Independence Day: Martyr soldiers await National War Memorial

Proposed design of the National War Memorial

As the country celebrates 65th Independence Day on August 15 it still does not have a National War Memorial to honour the sacrifices of the brave soldiers who laid down their lives to preserve this freedom.

The stalemate between the government and the armed forces over the venue and design of the war memorial continues and the project conceptualized in 1960’s is still far from being materialized. According to sources the three services chiefs – Admiral Nirmal Verma, Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne and General Bikram Singh –met Defence Minister AK Antony last week to apprise about the forces’ decision to have the memorial at India Gate, the structure constructed by the British as tribute to the soldiers who gave their life while fighting in the World War-I.

“After much deliberation, the Armed Forces have found that the ‘chhatri’ (Canopy) at the India Gate is the best suited place to get a National War Memorial – it is central and easily accessible,” a senior armed forces official said.

The latest design by noted architect Charles Correa and supported by the three services includes a landscape memorial around the Canopy near India Gate on the Central Vista, with names of about 50,000 martyrs inscribed on it. Most portions of the marble slabs on which the names would be etched would actually be below ground level. They would be in a circle around the canopy next to the India Gate. People can walk along the slabs, pay their respects and move to India Gate.

The memorial will be dedicated to the Indian, soldiers, sailors and airmen who sacrificed their lives post-independence. So far India has faced six major war or conflicts and in 1947-48 Jammu and Kashmir Operation it lost over 1,100 soldiers, in 1962 nearly 3,250 soldiers died, in 1965 the number was 3,264, in Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka the number was 1,157 and in 1999 Kargil Conflict 522 soldiers were martyred.

The unexplained delay has been a cause of much discontent amongst the armed forces. A young officer whom I spoke to said: “It is very demoralizing to know that the soldier had to fight not only for pay and parity but also a memorial for its valiant martyrs. The delay is sadder considering that an imperial power paid tribute to Indian soldiers in the form of India Gate, but what have we as a country done to remember their sacrifices?” The lack of a National War Memorial means that on every Republic Day or Independence Day the Indian dignitaries pay homage at the “Tomb of Unknown Soldier” resurrected in the memory of soldier who died in World War-I.

The proposal has been in limbo for the last few decades even as the armed forces continue to hold presentations and meetings with various regulatory bodies like Delhi Urban Arts Commission, North Delhi Municipal Corporation, Central Vista Commission, Heritage Conservation Committee and the like. After haggling over the venue of the memorial, when the regulatory bodies objected to it being constructed around the canopy as it would spoil the ambience of the heritage site, the stalemate now is on the height of the walls surrounding it. While the armed forces want it to be 12-feet tall, the regulatory bodies have put their foot down that the wall should not be any taller than four feet.

After a strong worded letter from the Defence Minister, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had set up a Group of Minister including Antony, the Urban Development Minister and the Finance Minister. The proposal to build a national war memorial was first mooted in the early 1960s but was shelved following India’s defeat against China in 1962. The proposal gained momentum following the Kargil conflict in 1999.