The Hindu : Cong. wants Fernandes sacked

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Apr 24, 2003

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National

Cong. wants Fernandes sacked

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI APRIL 23. The Congress today continued its war against the Defence Minister, George Fernandes. On the basis of the report of the Standing Committee on Defence, which indicts the Ministry for underutilisation of the budgetary allocations, the Congress launched a two-pronged attack against the Minister, both inside and outside Parliament.

In the Lok Sabha, Priyaranjan Dasmunshi, accused Mr. Fernandes of compromising the country's defence preparedness by not utilising the funds and not procuring the equipment needed for the purpose. Outside the House, the party spokesperson, S. Jaipal Reddy, said the Minister ought to be sacked "for ineptitude", as all the funds earmarked for modernisation and upgradation had gone unutilised.

Quoting from the standing committee report, Mr. Dasmunshi pointed out that 30 per cent of the capital expenditure was not utilised, and more importantly the Kargil tax was diverted to the general fund, defence expenditure was down to 13 per cent, and there was no sign of new aircraft carriers to replace the present aircraft carrier. This, he said, had a direct impact on the defence preparedness.

"When defence preparedness is down to such an extent how can the nation be confident that it is safe in your hands?" he wondered.

He urged the Prime Minister to explain why such a thing was permitted in the first place. He was supported by the Somnath Chatterjee and Shivraj Patil. In his short intervention, Mr. Vajpayee expressed readiness to have the matter discussed in the House.

Pressing for Mr. Fernandes' dismissal, Mr. Reddy said the standing committee report showed that the Government had neglected the minimal defence requirements at a time when the external environment had deteriorated sharply.

The party also used the opportunity provided by the standing committee report to take some sheen off the BJP's claims on national security.

"This really shows that the BJP only pays lip service to national security; when it actually comes to action, it is always found wanting," said Mr. Reddy.

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