The Hindu : The search for a middle ground

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Sunday, May 05, 2002

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The search for a middle ground

Since Kargil, the defence purchases process has been streamlined compared to the earlier "32" steps".

TILL A year ago, the defence procurement process resembled 32 Steps, the film by the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. No one knew when the final purchase order would be placed and with whom. The process also involved carting the file through 32 officials and committees. The private sector and analysts have frequently said that if only the purchase process became time bound, most of the middlemen employed by manufacturers to push their files would disappear.

Things began changing late last year. The Kargil war created the theoretical ground for change. The Tehelka scandal spurred the process. And a larger military role envisaged in the region for India by the United States forced the policy-makers to ring in a visible transmutation of the purchase process.

Senior officials supervising purchases of defence equipment, spares and upgrades worth tens of thousands of crores of rupees every year are now claiming that the time taken for placing the final order has dropped drastically. "The recommendations made by the Group of Ministers on reforming the national security system have started showing results," notes the Defence Secretary, Yogendra Narain.

The changes in the defence purchases system were not an isolated phenomenon. Ensuring jointness was the mantra. So, the first integrated command at the theatre level was set up in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands in which a single officer was in charge of all the three services as well as the Coast Guard. At the higher defence management level, integration was rung in with the formation of the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, which is one step short of a complete blending of the three services. The intelligence apparatus was brought under the combined Defence Intelligence Agency. The catalysts were the experience of the Kargil war and India's expanding role where it would have to operate with forces of other countries which work under an integrated set-up.

It was but natural that defence purchases also be subject to the same jointness. The Defence Procurement Board (DPB), the Defence Acquisition Council and a Defence Research Council (DRC) have been set up. All of them have wide representation, from accounts officials to senior officials of the three services and defence research organisations. After the final decision is taken, a committee of eminent persons, based on the French model, will scrutinise the decision. This is the establishment's format to strike the middle path between ensuring transparency and speed on the one hand and maintaining a certain amount of secrecy to safeguard national security on the other. "We find that this integrated approach (except for the eminent persons' panel which is yet to be set up) and across the board discussions are helping us devise a faster procurement process," says Mr. Narain. The integration also takes care of the widespread feeling among the armed forces of being ignored because the new system ensures inputs from all concerned.

The process has also been imbued with flexibility and safeguards. All requirements from the integrated service headquarters will be divided into essential and desirable categories. And all purchases of over Rs. 75 crores will be compulsorily referred to the Central Vigilance Commission. As a result, procurements have doubled in the last six months. In case of the Army, 131 procurement cases were approved as against 65 in the previous six months. Two dozen cases of the Air Force were cleared as against 10 in the first half of the last fiscal. Even if alacrity in Government purchases towards the later half of the financial year is accounted for, the performance is impressive.

Despite the claims made by officials, the new system is still maturing. The search for the ideal middle ground that balances secrecy, accountability and transparency is still continuing. It will be a difficult task in the current climate where credibility of institutions is crumbling rapidly. The armed forces and the Defence Ministry cannot remain immune to the erosion of moral values. But as the cliche goes, well begun is half done. It is now up to the Executive to ensure that these intentions are reinforced and encouraged so that they become an enduring part of the procurement process.

Sandeep Dikshit

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