NEW DELHI: Defence Minister A.K. Antony has advised Army officers to embrace austerity. "I would like the slogan of our armed forces to be `service with simplicity'," the Minister told the Army commanders' conference here on Monday.

Mr. Antony also advised the officers to interact more with the men under them to ensure better man management. "This can be done through enhanced interaction between senior and junior officers — both in qualitative and quantitative terms. The officers and commanders have to become more accessible to jawans and promptly attend to their grievances."

Having visited most major military installations and received feedback about the service conditions, Mr. Antony broke ranks with previous Defence Ministers in emphasising the need to shun ostentation and take better care of the men under one's command. "Till the human aspect is suitably taken care of, all attempts at modernisation, providing better pay and allowances, training and discipline, will not be able to achieve the desired results," he said.

With the number of distress deaths in the armed forces touching record levels last year, the Defence Minister had set up an independent committee to study the issue. Since one of the main causes is unresolved domestic problems, Mr. Antony has written to Chief Ministers to instruct the civil authorities at the State and district levels to be more proactive in responding to the grievances and problems of the defence personnel and their families.

He said that while entrusting top officers with more responsibilities, especially on the human resource side, the Government would tackle personal matters at higher levels on priority. These would include early disposal of complaints, impartial preparation of promotion reports and faster promotions.

Making an assessment of the security challenges from the neighbourhood, Mr. Antony wanted a "realistic appraisal" of China's military and economic capabilities, advocated a "close watch" on the developments in Pakistan and remaining "alert" about the changing situation in Sri Lanka.

The situation was "by and large under control" in Jammu and Kashmir, the ceasefire along the Line of Control was "holding" but Pakistan's support to cross border terrorism was a "cause of concern."

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