A gimmickry called restructuring
By Pritam Bhullar

ONLY the gullible would have believed when the Defence Minister George Fernandes said in the beginning of January that the Ministry of Defence (MOD) would be restructured by the end of the month. Was it to take focus off from Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat’s sacking which had become too murky an affair for the government? Or does it prove that we have square pegs in round holes in the team of our destiny makers? Both the questions have an answer in the affirmative.

Be that as it may, for Fernandes to have said that the MOD would be restructured within a month showed a total lack of comprehension of what was involved in this exercise.

Having come up against tough opposition from the bureaucrats in the MOD who cannot accept the idea of their unlimited powers being pruned, Fernandes has changed his mind on restructuring of the Ministry. While talking about the integration of the three services with the MOD, he said at a seminar on March 19 : "The whole idea of integration has been distorted by projecting as if we are restructuring the forces. We are not."

Who is "distorting" the idea of integration? So long as our politicians continue to befool us, things will not improve in India. Incidentally, this is not the first time that such an idea has been mocked at. In 1990, Arun Singh had prepared a report on restructuring which was not even published because it intended to reduce the powers of "the mighty" bureaucrats in the MOD.

Defence studies

One of the least discussed subjects in India is defence. Leave alone other defence matters, even the defence budget is not discussed in Parliament. Now compare this with the U.K. and the U.S. parliaments, where the defence budget is debated threadbare for a number of days. We cannot generate any discussion on defence in Parliament, unless our parliamentarians are well informed about it.

We cannot expect the public and the parliamentarians being well informed about defence unless defence issues are debated at public forums. These issues are not discussed partly because of the lack of awareness about them and partly for the reason that in India national security is considered to be the sole preserve of the armed forces.

The only way to create awarness about defence is to introduce a postgraduate course in defence and strategic studies in all the universities and colleges. No doubt, some of the universities are running this course besides organising useful seminars on the subject from time to time. But quite a few others are still treating this subject as an unimportant one. In this region, the Punjabi University Patiala has taken a lead in spreading awareness on defence studies.

Although the Panjab University Chandigarh had started this course a few years ago, it has been thinking of discontinuing it because of the lack of qualified staff and infrastructure. It is heartening to know that the faculty members had unanimously decided the other day to continue with the course.It should not be difficult for this prestigious university to create infrastructure for this course and get regular qualified teachers for it.

Tax exemption

The concession of tax exemption to the gallantry award winners on their pension and to their heirs on family pension is a welcome one. But how come the war widows have been excluded from this concession? It is sad that after their husbands sacrificed their lives to uphold the integrity of the country, most of them have to live a life of want and misery.

In no other country, the war widows are forgotten as in India. The British have still not forgotten the Indian War Widows of their era. To quote only one example, the widow of Naib Subedar Nand Singh, who won a Victoria Cross in World War II, was specially invited and honoured at a function in the U.K. a few years ago.

It was in March 1998 that GOC-in-C Northern "Command had taken up a case with the Army Headquarters that the widows of soldiers who get killed in action in the low intensity conflict should be given tax exemption on their family pension. Again in August last year, Maj-Gen (retd) S.S.Grewal from Chandigarh, where a number of widows who have lost their husbands in J and K and in the North-east reside, had taken up a case with the Adjutant General Army Headquarters for the grant of this concession to the war widows. But it seems the authorities have not been moved by the sad plight of the hapless widows. Their neglect by the authorities is one of the reasons why soldiering has become an unattractive profession these days.

Drill and discipline

Why should a soldier stand to attention for a long time without even shifting his gaze? Because this instils discipline and sense of duty in him.

Lient-Gen J.S. Dhillon, who retired as Army Commander several years ago, was so strict about drill that as a Brigade Commander, he would check the steadiness and discipline of his infantry battalions by making them stand to attention for long periods. Incidentally, though an engineer officer, he was selected to command the first Republic Day Parade at Delhi in 1950, as a Brigadier.

It was very rare that an Army Commander would visit an infantry battalion in the olden days. But when he paid a visit, he would not go anywhere else except to the quarterguard and the officers’ mess. By inspecting the men at the quarterguard, he would get a clear picture about the discipline and the training of the unit. And by talking to officers during a meal at the mess, he would gauge the standard of leadership of the unit. This was enough for him to assess the fitness of a unit for war.

The emphasis on drill has been reduced over the years. And this is one of the reasons why the standard of discipline has gone down.

When units are in peace stations, they should drill the troops regularly to inculcate discipline in them. Apart from this, weekly or at least fortnightly ceremonial parades should form part of the training programme. A unit that is called upon to present a guard of honour to a dignitary should consider itself lucky and take pride in this duty.

This feature was published on April 4, 1999