Since some posts have been upgraded over the years all along the line, from Lieutenant Colonel upward, it has resulted in the reduction of appointment of Majors, leading to promotional bottleneck from Captains to Majors.
On completion of 13 years of service an army officer becomes a Major automatically, Since the number of appointments of Majors have been reduced, many of the officers, who see no prospect of promotion as Major after completion of 13 years are threatening to go to the court of law.
The concerned directorates and military secretary’s branch are at loss what to do, But the military top brass has preferred more jobs at higher level than at the lower. And then it is the question of costs.
To many the defense apparatus in the country is a sacred cow; it cannot be touched, much less trimmed. Nobody asks any questions. ‘Once you talk in terms of scrutinizing the expenditure on the armed forces, the bogey of national interest is thrown at you. If all arguments fail, it is pointed out that India spends on its defense only 3.7 per cent of its GNP as against Pakistan’s 7 per cent.
It is not suggested that the saying should be affected at the expense of putting the country’s defense capacity in danger. But one has the feeling that there is not enough done to find out if there is room for postponing or pruning expenditure or for repositioning forces in such a way that there is economy.
What the various committees of parliament have done so far is to scrutiny’s whether a particular .m of hardware was received on time, whether correct procedures were observed while placing the order, or whether the expenditure under various heads was spent effectively. But there has been no real assessment to find out if certain expenditure was at all necessary or whether a particular item was a must at a particular time.
Take for example, the strength of the armed forces. No one can really say for certain what is a able number, either of men or equipment for the country’s defense. No minister or secretary can afford to apply a cut if the top military brass holds the view that what they have suggested is the minimum.
In the last study done on defense in 1975 under P.N. Haksar, then Planning Commission deputy chairman, the Finance Ministry ‘was of the opinion that the expenditure on what went in the name of defense must be scaled down. But the military commanders won the day by arguing that the country’s defense would be put into jeopardy if there was any cut in the estimates they had suggested.
Courtesy: The Muslim, Pakistan
Article extracted from this publication >> August 15, 1986
