The Hindu : Eminent persons group to scrutinise defence deals

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jun 30, 2002

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Eminent persons group to scrutinise defence deals

By Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI JUNE 29. With India poised to make record purchases of military hardware, the Defence Ministry is putting in place systems and procedures to avoid controversies that seem to surround every major purchase.

In order to bring about transparency in defence purchases and ensure that the public accepts the final decisions, the Ministry is setting up a 12-member eminent persons group (EPG). Before a contract is signed, the EPG will scrutinise every deal to determine whether all the prescribed procedures have been followed. The members would be experts associated earlier with defence purchases such as former Defence Secretaries, Central Vigilance Commissioners and CAG officials.

Simultaneously, a three-member ``technical oversight committee,'' comprising officers not involved in the acquisition process, will ascertain whether the selection of the vendor was technically correct. "It is very demoralising to face allegations. Even the best of officers get alarmed when charges of wrongdoing are aired,'' the Union Defence Secretary, Yogendra Narain, said.

The Government's concern is understandable because India is poised to purchase defence equipment worth Rs. 22,000 crores (over $ 4 billion) during the current fiscal against Rs. 12,000 crores two years ago. South Block is also pressing for a non-lapsable, two-year fund to ensure that the funds are not returned unutilised at the end of the current fiscal. "This system is practised in France and Italy. There is no reason why we cannot have it here,'' according to Mr. Narain.

The massive acquisition programme was in consonance with the wider military role envisaged for India in the region. However, on the setting up of a nuclear command, he said that the issue was "still under deliberation and study.''

Listing the major purchases on the anvil, Mr. Narain said equipments urgently required for anti-terrorism operations were being bought under the fast-track mechanism. These included night vision devices, unmanned aerial vehicles, hand-held thermal imagers, counter IED equipment and thermal imagery integrated systems. The purchase of advanced jet trainers from British Aerospace was "in its last stages'' while the price negotiation committee for the Russian aircraft carrier, Admiral Gorshkov, was expected to submit its report by the end of next month.

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