Defence purchases and transparency

IT IS QUITE clear that the veil of secrecy drawn over defence procurements has played a major role in contributing to corruption and sleaze. Cumbersome procurement rules and procedural loopholes, coupled with a total lack of transparency, have resulted in a situation where defence deals are invariably attended by political lobbying and influence-peddling of the most worrying kind. Against this background, the Defence and External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh's announcement that a Defence Procurement Board will be in place within a fortnight could not have come sooner. The idea of such a Board has been in the offing since it was okayed by the Group of Ministers which assessed the recommendations of the Task Forces that were set up following the submission of the Kargil Review Committee report at the end of 1999. So much so, the concept of a Defence Procurement Board is part of the larger resolve to restructure the existing defence set-up and introduce measures which improve the management of the country's defence.

Important details about the Board - such as the composition and the exact powers it will enjoy in the business of procurement - have not been spelt out yet. But while addressing the Rajya Sabha, Mr. Jaswant Singh - who made other important announcements, most notably the setting up of an Andaman and Nicobar strategic command - did suggest that not only will the procedures for procurement be simplified but that they will also be made much more transparent. An aspect that the Tehelka investigation highlighted was the danger of a system in which defence deals are struck under a cover of overwhelming secrecy. It would have been impossible for the portal's journalists, who posed as arms dealers, to gain access and bribe key functionaries in the country's defence establishment under a system where the methods for procurement were open and transparent. The success of the investigation depended critically on the fact that the methods by which defence purchases are finalised are opaque and outside the purview of the press and the public.

Significantly, Mr. Jaswant Singh has hinted that a decision will be taken shortly on whether or not to permit agents in facilitating defence deals. From these remarks, it seems that the Centre is prepared to consider rationalising the system of middlemen, who play a role in defence dealings virtually all over the world. Agents or middlemen were banned for the controversial Bofors howitzer deal 15 years ago and have been proscribed since then. Ironically, the ban has encouraged brokers and influence- peddlers to illegally lobby those in Government behind closed doors and in a clandestine manner. However, any system which legitimises the official agents of arms manufacturers should be re-introduced only in the most open and transparent manner. Following the Tehelka expose, which resulted in the setting up of a probe to inquire into all defence procurements referred to in the secretly-filmed videotapes, apprehension has been expressed in certain quarters that officials in the Ministry of Defence are reluctant to go ahead with big-ticket procurements for fear of being called into question or investigated later. Among the significant purchases that are pending are that of the 44,500- tonne aircraft carrier `Admiral Gorshkov' and over 40 MiG-29Ks (estimated at around $1.5 billions). Defence purchases cannot afford to be held up and, in the prevailing atmosphere of uncertainty about further procurements, the quick establishment of a Defence Procurement Board may provide the right measure of confidence to go ahead with the proposed acquisitions.

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