Tough View In Defence Procurements: Anthony

[ironman]

Tough View In Defence Procurements: Anthony

Sending a strong message against corruption in defence deals, Defence Minister A K Antony on Wedneday said the government will not hesitate to cancel contracts "if there is malpractice" in procurements.

"At times, we found certain manipulations and malpractices. We cannot ignore that so we ruthlessly cancelled big ticket items. In future also, I cannot say if there is malpractice we will take a lenient view," Antony said on the sidelines of a defence communications seminar in New Delhi.

During Antony's previous tenure as Defence Minister, the government had cancelled at least two defence deals, including the Eurocopter light utility helicopter deal last year owing to some malpractices by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM).

Giving a stern warning to Indian private industries who intend to enter into contracts with foreign suppliers and OEMs, the Defence Minister said; "They should not try to bribe our people".

He said, "If they try, they will face the consequences, as also the officers and manufacturers who are in touch with them".

Indicating the government's strong conviction in rooting out corruption, Antony said, "We will not be lenient. We will take strong action".

Earlier after inaugurating the seminar, Antony told the army officers and industry representatives that the government would no more tolerate "wheeling dealing or corruption".

He said, "We will ruthlessly cancel contracts in the future also as in the past. This is not a happy experience but we will be forced to take such action."

Antony was responding to remarks of CII Vice President Hari S Bhartia, who had earlier requested the Defence Minister to allow more private participation in the defence industry.

Referring to the instability in India's neighbourhood, the Defence Minister said the government wanted to modernise the armed forces which mandated more procurement of defence equipment and weapons.

"The situation (in India's neighbourhood) is not that encouraging. We must be always ready to meet any kind of threat. For that, the armed forces need more modern equipment."

Referring to the procurement process, he said: "While we are determined to speed up procurement, we cannot compromise on transparency".

Antony strongly favoured indigenisation of defence equipment and to promote self reliance in meeting the requirements of the armed forces.

 

[asq]

U should keep in touch with Tehlka.com to know the reality of Indian corruptions, it only can be rooted out if India rids itself of Caste system, rids it self of being the bully of the block.

That is not the way to be a good country, the way is to be as i said before, to be concerned about human rights and allow amnesty international in Kashmir, to live in peace with Pakistan, Bangla Desh with Sri lanka and with others in the north.

. Today, Indian Army, which was once believed as one of the most corruption free organisation in India is becoming the victim of few top level corrupt army officers.

Some of these facts become public when Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) presented report related to wide spread corruption in Indian Army. According to one report, Army is purchasing faulty boots for shoulders defending India in the acute heights of Siachen and Sikkim. Army is purchasing faulty boots since 2002 from an Italian firm which fails to work after -15 degree Celsius, where as maximum fail in temperature reported on these heights in -50 degree Celsius.

Nine months after an Indian Army major general was cashiered for corruption, two Brigadiers are being tried on similar charges that also involved the dismissed officer.



The General Court Martial (GCM) against Brigadiers G. Illangovan and D.S. Grewal who are charged with misappropriation of funds began in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh on June 25.



Depending on the extent of crime the court establishes, the duo could be dismissed from service, stripped of rank, denied retirement benefits and jailed for 14 years.



Illangovan and Grewal's involvement in corruption emerged when the Army was investigating charges against Gur Iqbal Singh, who was last year dismissed from service, stripped of his major general's rank and jailed for three years for illegally selling defence liquor in the civilian market.



Singh commanded the Bareilly-based 6 Mountain Division when the scam was detected in 2005. At that time, Illangovan commanded the 99 Mountain Brigade at Chaubatia and Grewal commanded the 69 Mountain Brigade in Pithoragarh, both in Uttarakhand. Both brigadiers reported to Singh.



Army investigators found that Illangovan had received two cheques for Rs.60,000 and Rs.70,000 from the division headquarters, apparently to be used for intelligence gathering purposes. Instead, he cashed the cheques and passed on the money to Singh.



Grewal acted in similar fashion, enchasing a cheque of Rs.140,000 and handing over the money to Singh.



In January, an Army court held a three-star general guilty of lapses in the procurement of frozen mutton.



Lt. Gen. S.K. Dahiya of the Army Service Corps (ASC) was indicted for the lapses while serving as a major general with the Udhampur-based Northern Command that guards the country's borders with Pakistan and China. The verdict could lead to his dismissal by the President, who is the supreme commander of the armed forces. Four other officers were also held guilty


Last year, Lt. Gen S.K. Sahni, who also belongs to the ASC and has since retired, was held guilty of lapses in the purchase of dry rations, including lentils. Six other officers, including a major general and two brigadiers, were also indicted in this case.

http://news.webindia123.com/news/ar_showdetails.asp?id=706270462&cat=&n_date=20070627

So ironman i can give u more of it than what u to put up below, so lay off and say something that u like to claim to be better than Pakistan.

 

[ironman]

^^
If you are thinking Pakistan is way better than India that is your mistake.

The Lahore High Court in Pakistan is facing a legal and a practical dilemma

ISLAMABAD: March 11, 2006 The Lahore High Court in Pakistan is facing a legal and a practical dilemma: What to do with the petition which charge sheets the Pakistan Armed forces and lists details of massive kickbacks and corruption done by Generals, Air Marshals and Admirals.



The petition has been filed by a lawyer in public interest but its contents are so explosive, the High Court Judges cannot touch it. The LHC, under tremendous pressure of the Army regime, is almost helpless in even admitting or hearing the petition, let alone give a verdict against the Army.



The main charges mentioned in the petition include:



- Air Chief Marshal Abbas Khattak (retired) had received Rs180 million as kickbacks in the purchase of 40 old Mirage fighters



- Air Chief Marshal, Farooq Feroz Khan (retired) was suspected of receiving a five per cent commission on the purchase of 40 F-7 planes worth $271 million



- In 1996, the Army bought 1,047 GS-90s jeeps, at a cost of $20,889 per unit. The market value of a jeep then was only $13,000. According to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Pakistan’s main accountability organization, some senior Army officers made Rs. 510 million in the deal.



- One hundred and eleven Army men got 400 plots in Bahawalpur and Rahimyar Khan districts at throwaway prices, paying Rs. 47.50 per kanal (1/8th of a acre) as against the actual price of Rs15,000 to Rs20,000 (1US$=Rs. 56). Another 35,000 kanals were distributed among them.



- Six respondents got 400 kanals in the Punjab while former NAB chairman Lt. Gen Mohammad Amjad was allotted a two-kanal plot on the Sarwar Road in Lahore for just Rs. 800,000 - payable in installments over 20 years. The market value of this plot was Rs. 20 million.



- General Pervez Musharraf acquired a commercial plot worth Rs 20 million at DHA in Lahore for just Rs. 100,000, payable in 20 years. "As mentioned in the report of defense services director-general, a loss of Rs 5 billion was incurred due to such allotments."



- The Army awarded a contract for the purchase of 1,000 Hino trucks at $40,000 per unit while the local Gandhara Industries had offered trucks of the same specification for $25,000 a piece. In the purchase of 3,000 Land Rover jeeps in 1995, Army officials allegedly received around Rs. 2 billion as kickbacks.



- The Army management at WAPDA raised the power tariff 13 times during the last three years besides purchasing electric meters at Rs. 1,050 a piece against the open market price of Rs. 456, causing a loss of Rs 1.65 billion to the national exchequer.



- A former military regime sold the Pak-Saudi Fertilizers for Rs. 7 billion and earned a Rs 2 billion commission on the deal.



- In 1996, the Pakistan Navy spent Rs. 13 million on installing air-conditioners at the Islamabad Golf Club without any justification.



Apart from this petition some other major scams involving serving or ex members of the military junta are as follows:

- ExArmy chief General Jahangir Karamat took kickbacks of more than US$ 20 Million from Ukrainian tank company for purchase of 300 Ukrainian tanks for Pakistan Army through a middleman named as Colonel Mahmood , a brother tank corps officer of Karamat . Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sent the present chief of the WAPDA Major General Zulfiqar, then serving in ISI, to Ukraine and Azerbaijan to investigate the scam.



- General Zulfiqar compiled a complete report of the transaction and the bribes given. But the Army tried to buy him out by rewarding him with the post of WAPDA Chairman and promoting him to the rank of a three star General. The then Army Chief, General Jahangir Karamat was forced to resign, based on the threat that if he did not, he would be charged for corruption.



- Many road contracts were given to a firm Hasnain Construction company without any public tenders by the recently removed Railways and Communication minister General Qazi. The company, owned by a relative of General Pervez Musharraf’s son, was also awarded the lease of a lucrative real estate in Lahore for construction of a Golf Course under frontmanship of Palm Country Golf Club, Singapore. The relative of General Musharraf admitted publicly that he was working for a commission to use his contacts and influence for the company.



- Prime commercial land developed in Defence Housing Authority Karachi was leased at dirt cheap rates to McDonalds operated by Amin Lakhani by the then Corps Commander, Karachi Lt. General Afzal Janjua.



- The Army’s coercive organ NAB struck various under the table deals with various individuals accused of high profile economic crimes in addition to arm twisting NAB defaulters, into joining the present government. These include the present Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali and at least one fourth of all elected legislators.



Where does the military virtue of a defense outfit stand in these circumstances? Is 2003 not a year fit to publish its obituary? Our military virtue died, trampled below the treacherous wheels of overpriced military trucks and overpriced Chinese aircraft and defective Atlantique planes that crash in our waters because of dubious maintenance.

Yes all this has served one important development purpose. Sons of ex-subedars, ex-clerks and ex-assistant political agents have done well, climbing from relatively simple life styles to grand luxuries propelled by phenomenal assets. All came to clean the Augean stables and all departed richer. The only exception was General Yahya Khan who whatever his drawbacks at least did not have the mind of a petty shop keeper.



Clausewitz, the great philosopher of war described “Military Virtue” of an Army as the corporate spirit which forms the bond between bravery, enthusiasm and espirit de corps. Clausewitz further defined military virtue as a quality which drives an Army in a similar way as genius makes a military commander illustrious.



Military virtue in words of Clausewitz could be generated in two ways, i.e. by a succession of military campaigns and victories or by military training activity carried to the highest pitch. The more a general demanded of his troops in terms of dedicated military activity in peace, the surer he would be that his demands in war would be properly answered. In short military virtue is the fuel that is supposed to drive an Army in war.



With the above premise in mind and keeping in view our present history it can be safely concluded that military virtue of the Pakistan Army as an institution witnessed erosion from 1958 once the party started that made sons of Risaldar majors and Assistant Political Agents progress into industrial tycoons. It was a joy ride. Men who had one green suit to wear, in the words of General Tajammul, became the tycoons of Pakistan. It was the beginning of prosperity for few and the beginning of the end of military virtue of a previously Spartan and clean military machine.

The second military junta of Pakistan was led by the only Army chief not from humble background and this ensured that the Pakistan Army was kept away from cheap consumerism and avaricious lust for real estate.



The second great dinner party started in 1979 when thanks to Soviet invasion of Afghanistan a heaven-sent opportunity arrived in shape of US military aid for the third military junta of Pakistan. Stingers were flown in by the big daddy for the obedient son and these were sold in the open market by silent soldiers. Thus new business empires were created. The Zia junta as a whole did roaring business and the result is that at least four major tycoons of Pakistan today including present commerce minister have direct links with the Zia junta.



Where does building 90 acres of a welfare colony known as Creek City with the cheapest shack for Rs. 6 million fit in? Did the military junta begin the occupation for such sublime purposes in 1958 or 1999? Where does developing 62 acres of land in prime commercial real estate in Islamabad fit in? Is this the business of a Navy that was miserably shut up in a mouse hole in Karachi Port in 1971 War? True that kickback may have been taken, but at least Admiral Mansur-ul-Haq bought a good submarine for the Navy. But for whose welfare is the Navy undertaking a project 1500 kilometers from the nearest sea?



What began as an idealistic journey ends with the shady deals around creeks in Karachi which the Navy failed to defend in 1971 and a military junta which wants to rule this country for eternity.



And in this messy situation, the subservient Lahore High Court has been asked to sit on judgment with the sprawling mountains of charges, some even admitted publicly by the Army. God help the poor Justices of the superior court.

 

[beckham]

Pak military sure beats indian military in corruption... But no match for our politicians, they of a totally different level !

 

[Rajkumar]

no military in the world is corruption less. Indian military remains in lime light coz media is free and audits are fair instead Pakistani military has control over everything so whispers don't come out.

 

[Schultz]

no military in the world is corruption less. Indian military remains in lime light coz media is free and audits are fair instead Pakistani military has control over everything so whispers don't come out.

Very well put. In Pakistan it is the military that decides the size of the defense budget and not the Pakistani parliament. The Generals in Rawalpindi just send the figures to the government of the day and the parliament simply accepts it. There is also no discussion over the defense budget and no one is allowed to ask the military as to how the money will be spent and where.

Just imagine the level of corruption with such high levels of secrecy and the absence of any accountability to any one at all. No wonder the top brass of the Pakistan military end up very rich.

 

[spsk]

Why to discuss about Pakistan's corruption in this thread? Other countries do have corruption but definitely not to the extent our politicians do . Remember our Ex Shipping minister Mr. Balu openly accepted misusing his power in parliament and our government headed by greatest economist Mr.Singh shamelessly accepted and allowed him to continue as minister.

I doubt if any other country in India can allow corruption to this level.

 

[Schultz]

Why to discuss about Pakistan's corruption in this thread? Other countries do have corruption but definitely not to the extent our politicians do . Remember our Ex Shipping minister Mr. Balu openly accepted misusing his power in parliament and our government headed by greatest economist Mr.Singh shamelessly accepted and allowed him to continue as minister.

I doubt if any other country in India can allow corruption to this level.

I have never denied that corruption does not exist in India (dont know what gave you that idea). I was merely elaborating on the point made by Rajkumar in the previous post.