Need for Prudence in Defence Acquisition Plans and CMR

Addressing the Combined Commanders' Conference - 2013 , the Prime Minister said the country needs urgent and tangible progress in establishing right structures for higher defence management and appropriate civil-military balance in decision making.

He also highlighted the political leadership had highest faith in the military's institutional rectitude.

Understanding the Roles and the 'Ways of Working' in civil and military establishments in a developing democratic India, and the resultant slide down in CMR, caused by 'Me-too and Ego Issues - politico-civil-military'   need to be routinely 'treated' surgically.

Need for Prudence in Defence Acquisitions and the CMR

The Troubled State of Civil-Military Relations

The troubled state of civil-military relations in India has attracted much attention in recent times. Many, especially within the military, argue that it has been in a state of prolonged crisis since as far back as 2006 when disputes over the Pay Commission created bad blood between civilians and the military.

These tensions, however, paled in comparison to the controversies that erupted earlier this year. General V.K. Singh’s tenure as Chief of Army Staff saw many firsts; a Service Chief representing against the Ministry of Defence in the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Defence established the precedence and upheld the sanctity of a designated “succession line” to the position of Service Chief and the leak of a top-secret letter from the Army Chief to the Prime Minister complaining about weaknesses in “defence preparedness” stemming mainly from higher defence mismanagement.

Read the Full Article: Civil Military Relations in Crisis

Compulsory Military Training Against Democratic Ethos: Defence Minister

Compulsory military training to all youths is against democratic ethos of the country and is highly undesirable as some of the trained men could join the ranks of radical forces, Defence Minister A K Antony told the Lok Sabha. In a written reply to the House, he also said the Govt is not in favour of making military training compulsory as under the democratic set up of the nation, people are free to chose their profession.

"Military training to all the youths may lead to militarisation of an entire nation. With our socio-political and economic conditions, it is highly undesirable, lest some of the unemployed youths trained in military skills join the ranks of the radical forces," Antony said.

 The Govt. is not in favour of making military training compulsory as India is a democratic republic and the Constitution does not provide for such a thing.

Click: Compulsory Military Training Against Democratic Ethos: Defence Minister