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Defence restructuring may be a tame affair

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

The proposed restructuring of the armed forces, recently voiced by Defence Minister George Fernandes, aims chiefly at re-lubricating the smooth functioning between the three services and the civilian bureaucracy, top ministry of defence officials said today.

They told Rediff On The Net that contrary to the apprehension being expressed by political parties and retired defence personnel, the proposed restructuring would endeavour to remove the irritants in the way of professional interaction between the bureaucracy and the three services. "As such, nothing extraordinary is going to happen in this context which would upset the existing balance among the armed forces," the officials pointed out.

They indicated that the proposed restructuring would take into account whether areas like career advancement, equipment procurement or further empowerment of the three service chiefs needed to be buttressed.

They indicated that the restructuring exercise would also ensure that 'disasters' like India's humiliation in the Indo-Chinese war in 1962 and the 'deplorable December 1998 developments' were avoided. While India had to suffer an ignominious defeat because of the lack of coordination between the country's armed forces and the civilian bureaucracy, developments late last month had culminated in the ouster of Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat. However, care and caution were being exercised to ensure that the armed forces had optimum capability at all times and that morale stayed at peak level.

It was stressed that right from 1962 onwards, the need for defence restructuring had been felt by successive governments but since the MoD is regarded as a holy cow, no one had dared to do the needful, the officials pointed out. They, however, blamed the Congress, the United Front as well as the BJP equally for not taking any initiative for restructuring all these years.

It is understood that the question of the incipient tussle between the armed forces and the civilian authority will engage substantial attention when the restructuring is carried out. The officials pointed out that for a long time now, the parliamentary standing committee on defence has frequently highlighted the squabbling between high authorities in the three services and senior civilian bureaucrats, especially when it comes to the question of procurement of expensive and vital military gear. It was emphasised that despite the criticism of the undesirable role played by officers and senior bureaucrats, no government took any initiative to stem the rot.

The officials indicated that the issue of 'command culture' in the three services was likely to be considered if the restructuring was carried out. They said the armed forces are used to this culture where the subordinate unquestioningly obeys the orders of his superior officer. Thus the proposed restructuring would ensure that such a command culture was not unnecessarily upset, failing which the morale of the armed force personnel would be adversely affected.

It was emphasised that in view of the command culture, the syllabi in the Indian Military Academy and the Officers Training School could not be drastically changed and this was another area where the status quo could not be disturbed, barring minor modifications. Thus, in view of these facts, it would be imprudent to expect that any restructuring in the armed forces would be drastic, the officials added.

However, Opposition parties' apprehension on the proposed restructuring of the armed forces appears to border on panic, with the obvious intent of gaining as much political capital as possible. Senior Congress leaders Arjun Singh and Ghulam Nabi Azad reiterated that while they did not want to pre-judge the issue, Fernandes had left a trail of "doubts and suspicions" by his statement. When this correspondent pointed out to Arjun Singh that his party too had demanded restructuring of the armed forces in the past, the senior Congress leader quipped, "I did not say that we did not demand restructuring. But we are apprehensive about the nature of the moves which must be clearly spelled out."

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