The MoD and the armed forces must rein in the revenue expenditure.

AS an armed forces veteran, I noticed two firsts in the budget presented this year. First, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley never mentioned the word ‘defence’ in his speech. I cannot remember that happening in the last five decades or more. To many people, this will convey the impression that India’s security, and Rs 3.4 lakh crore of India’s defence budget (total defence outlay plus pension bill), is not of much importance. Second, for the first time, he included ‘defence pensions’ as part of the Defence Ministry Allocation (item no. 21 in the Summary of Demands for Grant).

This appears to have been done for two reasons: (a) to convey that this particular item has impacted the rest of defence allocation, and (b) to convey that the total defence outlay has been increased substantially.What is the defence allocation for next year? What are its implications for the armed forces? The defence allocation sought in the budget estimate (BE) for 2016-17 is — revenue: Rs 1,48,498.85 crore, capital: Rs 78,586.68 crore, pensions: Rs 82,332.66 crore, misc (other than armed forces): Rs 68,537.63 crore. There is an increase of 1.16 per cent on the basis of BE of last year, which does not even cover India’s inflation rate. But if calculated against the revised estimates (RE) — based on unspent money by the Ministry of Defence till December 31, 2015, leading to reduction in the allocation by the Ministry of Finance in the RE — it works to an increase of about 9 per ent.In 2015-16, the Ministry of Defence was unable to spend Rs 18,295 crore  out of its allocated budget. This included Rs 11,595 crore from the capital expenditure, or 13.4 per cent of the funds earmarked to purchase  military equipment. The rest unspent amount was from the revenue expenditure, or maintenance requirements of the armed forces.For the unspent money, which leads to reduction in the RE year after year, we can blame the Ministry of Defence for its cumbersome procedures, and also its finance adviser who takes his cue on curtailing expenditure from the Ministry of Finance. Usually, he is seen more loyal to his parent ministry than the one in which he is located.Our major worry is on the modernisation of the armed forces. The parliamentary standing committee on defence, currently headed by a BJP member, had in its last report stated that although the defence expenditure had been increasing over the years, it had not been consistent — neither in keeping with the strategic environment nor in the allocation for revenue and capital expenditure. It had warned the government that a low allocation for the defence sector would affect the country’s security adversely.For 2016-17, the capital expenditure outlay for the armed forces is Rs 78,586.68 crore. Last year, at the BE stage, it was Rs 85,894.44 crore. This clearly implies lesser money allocation for modernisation this year.In his speech to the Combined Commanders in December 2015, Prime Minister Modi said: “In a world of rapid changes, India faces familiar threats and new ones. Our challenges cover land, sea and air at the same time. It includes the full range, from terrorism to conventional threat to a nuclear environment. Our responsibilities are no longer confined to our borders and coastlines. They extend to our interests and citizens, spread across a world of widespread and unpredictable risks.” The delays in the replacement of the army’s obsolescent weapons and equipment, making up deficiencies in fighter squadron strength of the Air Force and the submarine fleet of the Navy to meet future threats and challenges is worrisome. Several big ticket defence purchases being worked out for modernisation are likely to suffer. This would also affect our defence industrial sector which is looking for expansion and supply orders as part of India’s ‘Make in India’ programme.The revenue expenditure is no less a worry. The allocation this year of Rs 1,48,498.85 crore is an increase from BE of Rs 1,37,153.03 crore (RE of Rs 1,30,071.09 crore) of last year. The fact is that this expenditure has been bloating year after year and skewing the maintenance versus modernisation ratio in defence allocation. Ideally, it should be about 50:50 for the Air Force and Navy, and about 65:35 for the manpower-intensive Army. In the past, whenever revenue expenditure overshot the budgeted allocation, there was a tendency to dip into the capital expenditure. With extra revenue expenditure on account of the 7th Pay Commission recommendations, and post-Pathankot attack,  extra security measures are required for large defence installations, and I doubt if we can come anywhere close to these ratios next year. There is a common feeling amongst armed forces personnel that the government, particularly the Finance Minister, are upset with some veterans’ continuing agitation over the OROP issue, despite conceding most demands. My appeal to the government is that whether that is true or not, it must not come in the way of the armed forces modernisation!I have three additional comments to make. One, as a ratio of projected GDP for 2016-17, the defence expenditure will be around 1.6 per cent. In comparison, China spends over 2.5 per cent, and Pakistan around 3.5 per cent of their respective GDP.  India’s per capita expenditure on defence is less than $10 while the average expenditure of the top 10 spenders in Asia is approximately $800. Given India’s increasing vulnerabilities and rising international demands on it to act as a net provider of security as a rising regional power, the defence allocation and expenditure needs to be supplemented to create the capabilities which the armed forces will need in future.Two, the inability to spend allocated capital modernisation budget needs to be rectified urgently. We should consider ‘non-lapsable, roll-on allocation’ for defence capital budget. This was instituted by the last NDA government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee. We should also institute a ‘technical audit’ every five years to check if allocated capital resources have been utilised optimally. Three, while seeking additional resources from the government, it is also the responsibility of the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces to control the ever-bloating revenue expenditure. This requires stricter check over manpower expansion with greater use of technology where necessary. With greater integration of services, we can also cut down duplication (sometime triplication) of our non-combat resources.— The writer is a former Chief of Army Staff

Tribune News Service,Chandigarh, March 4

War Decorated India (WDI), an association of recipients of wartime gallantry awards, will hold its two-day triennial reunion convention in Chandimandir from March 5.Over 120 war heroes, some of them now in their 90s, and war widows are expected to attend the convention, along with the members of their families.Brig SS Ahluwalia (retd), general secretary of the WDI, said out of a total of 1,090 recipients of the Param Vir Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra and Vir Chakra, who were living at the time of award, only about 360 were alive. Despite being a dwindling lot, these soldiers serve as a source of inspiration for the present generation of armed forces officers and men.

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune news service

Shimla, February 29

The Union Budget has come as disappointment to middle class and salaried people who were expecting hike in the Income Tax limit and other concessions.The income tax rates were not revised last year. This year again, no relief has been given which defies logic. Recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission will be implemented during this year. The hopes of the salaried class have been dashed as salaries of employees would on an average go up by 23 per cent and the employees would have to pay a heavy tax on account of pay hike, Col Joshi (retd) said.The Finance Minister should have at least raised the limit to neutralize the impact of hike in salary and pension by raising the income tax limit and reducing tax rates, he added.The Budget is disappointing and the increase in service tax and taxing Provident Fund withdrawals was a cruel joke with the employees and retired persons, state Employees and Pensioners Associations leaders said.The cumulative burden on the employees and pensioners on account of these proposals would be massive and the Budget is also silent on the interest rates of fixed deposits of retired persons, who are losing the monthly income due cut in lending rates.On the one hand, the government is squeezing the incomes of retired persons and on the other, bleeding them by imposing more taxes, the employee leaders lamented. President HPSEB union Hira Lal said that employees were disappointed as tax exemption limit had not been raised and suggested that the tax slabs should have linkage with inflation. The increase in service tax and tax on PF withdrawal were totally unjustified as there was no justification on charging tax on drawing money from your own savings, he said.Prof Aparna Negi said making provision of funds to pursue higher education was welcome as there was a vast majority of deserving students who were unable to pursue the technical and higher studies due to lack of funds.College teacher Joginder Saklani said that neither the tax exemption slab had been increased nor any policy guidelines announced for converting the contract jobs into regular jobs.Shimla Beopar Mandal president Inderjeet Singh welcomed the decision to keep the shops open 24X7 (on all week days) based on the concepts of shopping malls. “We had already been urging the state government for the same and the announcement in the union Budget has come as a big relief for shopkeepers”, he said.

Artistes enact Hindi play ‘Court Martial’ at Abhinav Theatre in Jammu. Tribune photo: Inderjeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Jammu, February 26

The Pancham Society for Art and Culture Upliftment today staged a Hindi play, “Court Martial”, written by Swadesh Deepak and directed by Vijay Goswami.The play deals with the issue of caste-based discrimination that is still prevalent in the country. Through this play, the society tried to convey that a lot has changed in terms of education and scientific progress since the Independence of India, but this vile discrimination continues.The main character of the play is Ram Chandra, an Army jawan, who has been accused of murdering one of his senior officers Captain Verma and injuries another officer Captain BD Kapoor. When the play begins, Ram Chandra is already in court, facing trail. The Court Martial is presided by a war veteran Col Surat Singh, who has witnessed many life-and-death situations.During the course of trial, the prosecution, Major Ajay Puri, sees no complication in the case of Ram Chandra as he himself has confessed to the crime, but extremely sharp defence lawyer Bikash Roy goes deep into the motive behind assault and exposes the shocking truth. He views things in a different perspective as he poses ostensibly irrelevant questions to the witness, but they are actually related to the genesis or the back story of the whole saga.

A file photo of Army Chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag.

New Delhi, February 25

Army Chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag on Thursday slammed Pakistan for giving “candid support” to terror groups like the JeM and LeT as he called on the international community to join hands in combating the menace.

Days after suspected LeT operatives struck in Pampore in Jammu and Kashmir, Suhag hit out at Pakistan, saying, “Terrorist groups like the LeT and JeM get candid support from across our western borders.”

The attack at Pampore left three Army personnel dead, including two Captains of the Special Forces. Two CRPF personnel, too, were killed by three heavily armed “foreign” terrorists who were shot dead after a fierce 48-hour-long gun battle.

At a seminar organised by Army think tank CLAWS, Suhag also said that the spreading influence of Islamic State, in particular through social and other forms of media, has thrown up challenges of global and regional security.

“What is worrying is that these groups can no longer be dismissed as regional manifestations of violence,” he said.

Noting that such jihadist outfits take advantage of the international connected systems of finance, commerce and transit to stay flexible and reach any part of the globe, Suhag said it was “necessary for international community to fight this menace as one by sharing of intelligence and adoption of training techniques from each other”.

He added that the 9/11, 26/11 and recent Paris attacks have changed the perception among world leaders regarding the threat from terrorism.

The Army Chief said, “We need to address not only the methods but also the factors that contribute to the spread of terrorism.

“The main threat comes from fundamental ideology and twisted interpretations which are promoting radical thinking.”

BJP leader and spokesperson M.J. Akbar, who also spoke at the event, termed parts of Pakistan as a “sanctuary for jihadis”. — PTI

General Dalbir Singh, COAS and All Ranks of Indian Army express heartfelt condolences to the grief stricken family of Lance Naik Om Prakash,who laid down his life for honour and in service of the nation while fighting the terrorists in J&K. We pray to the almighty to give the family the courage and strength to bear the irreparable loss.

General Dalbir Singh, COAS and All Ranks of Indian Army express heartfelt condolences to the grief stricken family of Captain Tushar Mahajan,who laid down his life for honour and in service of the nation while fighting the terrorists in J&K. We pray to the almighty to give the family the courage and strength to bear the irreparable loss.

General Dalbir Singh, COAS and All Ranks of Indian Army express heartfelt condolences to the grief stricken family of Captain Pawan Kumar who laid down his life for honour and in service of the nation while fighting the terrorists in J&K. We pray to the almighty to give the family the courage and strength to bear the irreparable loss.

Manohar Parrikar

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 23

The Defence Acquisition Council today asked the three services — Army, Navy and Air Force — to review and cancel all pending acquisition proposals that have lost “contemporary relevance”.Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who chaired the council meeting today, reviewed the progress of acquisition projects approved by it. It was found that since June 2014, when the Narendra Modi-led government came to power, 81 acquisition projects worth Rs1.5 lakh crore ($23 billion) have matured — meaning either the contract has been signed or the order has been placed. Much of this is under the Make in India category.Parrikar said 314 pending acquisition projects lost relevance as technologies had changed. These projects came up to the council but were not cleared. After taking over as the Defence Minister, Parrikar had promised changes in approach to acquire weapons and equipment. It’s under the same plan that he has speeded up matters. Of these projects, 86 are in final stage of clearance and Parrikar has asked the services to speed up matters and get these cleared over the next four or five months.Almost all Defence purchases typically take over at least five years to fructify and go through several phases starting from tendering to equipment and technical trails and commercial negotiations etc.Despite the recent effort of the Modi government to prioritise defence equipment manufacturing in India, under the “Make in India” programme, India continues to be the biggest importer of military hardware in the world according to a report of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released on Monday.Aggressive changes in defence equipment manufacturing policy, more cooperation and coordination between the forces, the private sector, Defence Public Sector Undertakings, assured orders for the private sector and grants for designing and developing military hardware are some of the steps the government has unveiled recently to kick-start defence equipment manufacturing in India.The government hopes these changes will start showing results in the next five years, dramatically reducing foreign exchange outflow and make India a defence manufacturing hub as well.

Defence Acquisition Council meets

• At the Defence Acquisition Council meeting, Manohar Parrikar (pic) said 314 pending acquisition projects lost relevance as technologies had changed
• After taking over as the Defence Minister, Parrikar had promised changes in approach to acquire weapons and equipment. It’s under the same plan that he has speeded up matters
• Of these projects, 86 are in final stage of clearance and Parrikar has asked the services to speed up matters and get these cleared over the next four or five months

Lt Gen KJ Singh, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, honours Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar in Chandimandir on Friday. A Tribune photograph

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 19

Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who is also on the Parliament Standing Committee on Defence, Consultative Committee on Defence and the Central Advisory Committee for the National Cadet Corps, visited Headquarters Western Command, Chandimandir, today.He addressed officers of the Command Headquarters on security challenges being faced by the nation. He was felicitated by Lt Gen KJ Singh, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, with the Army Commander’s Commendation Card for his contribution to the cause of the defence community and actively pursuing various defence issues, including welfare of the veterans, at the national level.In the recent past, the Western Command has recongnised the efforts and felicitated various civilians who have been actively involved in ensuring security of the nation in one way or the other, including their role in counter-terrorist operations, and also citizens pursuing welfare of the defence veterans.

Rajya Sabha MP gets commendation card at Western Command

Ideally, Siachen should be demilitarised and restored to status quo ante, with both sides withdrawing amicably. However, this will require a high degree of maturity from both sides. This is easier said than done.

Specialised rescue teams carrying out operations to search for bodies of the 10 soldiers of Infantry’s 19 Madras Regiment who were killed in an avalanche in Siachen. The glacier is the world’s coldest and most-expensive-to-maintain battlefield. PTI

THE  Siachen glacier, located at the world’s only nuclear tri-junction and where the overlapping boundary claims of three nuclear weapon states — China, India and Pakistan — converge, is again in the news following the death of 10 Army soldiers belonging to the Infantry’s 19 Madras Regiment following an avalanche on February 3. Also known for being the world’s highest, coldest and most expensive-to-maintain battlefield, the incident raises a question about the rationale of maintaining troops in an area that has led an American commentator to describe India and Pakistan as “two bald men fighting over a comb”. This is not the first time that both India and Pakistan have lost soldiers to an avalanche in this region where the human body reaches its limits and where helicopters, the only source of air support, exceed their flight envelope. On December 16, 2012, six soldiers belonging to the Infantry’s 1 Assam Regiment were killed, while a seventh went missing following an avalanche in sub sector Hanif in Turtuk area of the glacier region. The worst-known incident, however, occurred on April 7, 2012, when about 140 Pakistani soldiers were killed after an avalanche slammed into their army camp in Gyari. The incident then led Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari to appeal to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to cooperate in demilitarising the glacier region. For the record, the 76.6-km-long Siachen glacier, the second-longest glacier outside the polar regions, is located well within Indian territory. Indian troops are located in over 100 posts atop the Saltoro Ridge, which in turn forms the 110-km-long actual ground position line (AGPL) located at heights between 17,500 and 22,000 feet, starting from NJ 9842, a grid map reference. This is the point until which the Line of Control (LoC) is officially demarcated. The Siachen glacier, in roughly the form of an inverted triangle, “rests” on NJ 9842 with Indra Col (to the left) and the Karakoram Pass (to the right) in the north as the two extremities. The glacier, located in Ladakh district of Jammu and Kashmir, is situated between the Saltoro ridge to the west and the main Karakoram range to the east. Such is the geo-political location of the Siachen glacier that it lies just south of the great watershed that separates Central Asia from the Indian subcontinent and Pakistan from China in this region. The origin of the Siachen conflict lies in a set of five words dating back to the CFL (Ceasefire Line) Agreement signed in Karachi on July 27, 1949 by military representatives of India, Pakistan and the UN Military Observers Group. The CFL (renamed LoC following the July 1972 Simla Agreement) was demarcated up to Chalunka, Khor and NJ 9842 with the remaining portion extending northwards left open with the five words “thence north to the glaciers”. Neither side then imagined demarcating a difficult-to-survey terrain, let alone occupying it. But all that changed following a long chain of events starting with India’s loss of territory to China in the Ladakh region in the 1962 Sino-Indian War, the China-Pakistan border agreement of 1963 in which the 5,800 sq km Shaksgam tract was ceded by Pakistan to Beijing, Pakistan’s dismemberment in the 1971 Indo-Pak war, the subsequent cartographic claims by Pakistani and western countries and mountaineering expeditions for westerners facilitated by Pakistan in the glacier region during the 1970s.  On April 13, 1984, the Indian Army pre-empted a Pakistani Army plan to occupy the Siachen glacier after it heli-dropped 29 soldiers belonging to the 4 Kumaon Regiment on the Bilafond La, a tactically important Pass, located on the Saltoro range. Following this, the Army then secured Sia La, another tactically important Pass, and Indra Col, the northern most point of the Saltoro ridgeline. Both sides then rushed to secure the dizzying heights of the Saltoro Ridge overlooking the glacier to gain visual domination of the other. It was a race which the Indian Army quickly managed to win, thus completely denying Pakistan a piece of the Siachen glacier. This continues till today. But this victory also brought with it the nightmare of logistics and of creating an infrastructure to maintain some 4,000 soldiers in a terrain and environment which tests the limits of human physiological and psychological endurance. The biggest enemy remains the weather where temperatures can fall to as low as minus 50 degrees Celsius, with a constant danger of blizzards and avalanches. The minefield of numerous crevasses adds to the challenge to foot soldiers as does the lack of oxygen. Transporting supplies is a major challenge considering that single-engine light helicopters can only carry a limited weight to those heights. Since India has access to the entire glacier, it also means that the supply line is long from the nearest road head — about 70 km. In contrast, because Islamabad does not have the glacier, the farthest distance the Pakistani Army has to cover from its road head is 20 km. After initially suffering considerable losses, the Indian Army has, in fact, managed to reduce casualties in the glacier region by improving equipment for the soldiers, installing pre-fabricated fibre glass huts and laying a kerosene oil pipeline, to name a few measures. In a rare admission, Pakistan conceded it had lost 213 soldiers between 2003 and 2010. The approximately 140 soldiers killed in 2012 are in addition. In the absence of figures released by the Pakistani Army both preceding and following this 2003-2010 period, it is difficult to put an exact figure on Pakistani casualties.  Data released by the Indian government in Parliament reveals that the Indian Army had lost 869 soldiers on the glacier in 31 years, starting from April 1984 to December 2015. This includes 33 officers, 54 junior commissioned officers and 782 other ranks. But this does not include the number of Indian soldiers injured or permanently incapacitated. The extent to which Indian casualties have reduced is evident from the fact that the Army lost just four soldiers each in 2007 and 2008, 10 in 2013, six in 2014 and five in 2015. In contrast, some stray Pakistani casualty figures reveal 12 Pakistani soldiers killed in 2007 and 13 in 2008. Almost all casualties are attributed to the harsh weather and terrain rather than to enemy firing. Although the two sides have held 13 rounds of discussions to demilitarise the glacier, the biggest hurdle is Pakistan agreeing to record the existing positions on the Indian side. The Indian Army considers this paramount to prevent Pakistan from occupying it as soon as India vacates the Saltoro ridge gained at much human and financial cost. Pakistan refuses to oblige so as to prevent a subsequent legal claim by India. A formal demarcation will also expose the Pakistani Army to ridicule considering that, contrary to claims made domestically, they have never fought on the glacier. Pakistan claims a diagonal line running north-east, from NJ 9842 to the Karakoram Pass, which not only encompasses the entire Siachen glacier but also threatens Indian positions in Leh. In addition to forming a direct linkage with Chinese- occupied Ladakh, the Indian Army says that such a claim is in direct violation of the watershed principle which India has followed in occupying the Saltoro ridge. The area should be demilitarised in the interest of preventing further environmental degradation of the area.  Decisions related to geo-politics can never be and never are based on sentiments and emotion. Unfortunately, in our world where realpolitik continues to dictate statecraft, a price tag cannot be placed on a country’s national interest. A country has to pay the price, no matter how severe, to preserve its national interest unless, of course, a détente can be effected or one side is willing to compromise. 

dkumar@tribunemail.com

Vijay Mohan.Tribune News Service,Chandigarh, February 16

The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Central Government on a petition filed by the father of a fighter pilot killed during the 1999 Kargil operations, challenging the constitutional validity of certain provisions in the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) Act which virtually debar the litigants from appealing against the Tribunal orders.Sections 30 and 31 of the AFT Act, which do not permit filing of appeals except in cases involving a “point of law of general public importance”, are in sharp contrast with the rights available to all civilian employees, who can approach the High Court and then the Supreme Court against orders passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal.Gurbax Singh Dhindsa, father of Late Flying Officer GS Dhindsa, who died in a crash at Srinagar when the fighter aircraft had been scrambled for a live mission during Operation Vijay, had been refused the correct pension by the Defence Accounts Department. Though the AFT granted him his entitlement, it refused to grant him interest from the date of death.When the petitioner wanted to approach the High Court for interest, he learnt that the HCs had been barred from entertaining challenges to AFT orders by an SC verdict of March 2015, passed on a plea filed by the Central Government in 2011. Further, the SC could only hear appeals concerned with ‘general public importance’.The petitioner contended that provisions of the Act have rendered the AFT as the first and the last court for litigants without any remedy or access against its orders, thereby leaving litigants at a serious disadvantage.