Day: April 7, 2012

By Pradip Phanjoubam
This article first appeared in the Economic and Political Weekly in the magazine’s March 24, 2012 issue.

By and large there were two chief determinants that led to the landslide victory of the Congress in the elections to the 10th Manipur Legislative Assembly held on February 28 and the result of which was declared on March 6 together with those of four other states. An assessment of these two conditions should make the picture somewhat clear why the stunning victory of the Congress was expected though by its sheer magnitude, surprising.  One of these factors is an innate insecurity of the state’s electorate, an insecurity shared by most other small North Eastern states. The other is specific to Manipur and it has to do with the atrocious manner in which the parties in the opposition benches chose to commit political hara-kiri in the past ten years of uninterrupted Congress rule.

A convenient way to survey these factors would be a critical consideration of the dramatic entry of two new political parties into the state politics – that of the ruling party in West Bengal, All India Trinamool Congress, AITMC, and the ruling party in Nagaland, the Naga Peoples’ Front, NPF. They introduced new colours, moods and concerns to the electoral arena and indeed to the state as such, in different ways.

AITMC not only entered but opened accounts in a big way surprising many observers. The party fielded 47 candidates in the 60-member house. It also returned seven legislators to be behind only the Congress. Some frivolous explanations have been forwarded that electoral politics in Manipur and indeed the entire North Eastern states is not rooted deep enough therefore politician and political parties lack firm ideological leanings making them unscrupulous about changing hues quickly and whimsically. Instances of large scale defections in the political history of the region, in particular that of a BJP government in Arunachal Pradesh switching over to Congress overnight en masse when the BJP fell from grace at the Centre and a Congress government replaced it, are cited as alibi. It is true there has been a tendency of politics in these states to always lean towards the party that is in power at the Centre but this has a psychological explanation in which the subjects are not the only ones to blame. However before attempting this explanation, it must be noted that the answer of AITMC doing well as a first time entrant in Manipur is partly provided by this dominant psyche in the Northeast. AITMC, though not the ruling party at the Centre does control important levers of power there and this would have worked to its advantage.

This Centre-leaning politics in the region however is born out of conditioning rather than any independent whim. These switches of political loyalties are an indication of a deep and shared insecurity that unless they are on the right side of the Centre, they could end up abandoned if not harangued. A decade ago, when the 5th Pay Commission recommendations were out and pays of government employees were hiked, the Manipur government was headed by W. Nipamacha Singh of the Manipur State Congress Party, MSCP, a state party.  He did not last a full term but while he was there, he had a harrowing time, running from pillar to post to have funds released for as many as six months pending salary bills at a time for government employees. The state at the time was in untold turmoil.  It could be this was a co-incidence, but common man on the streets cannot be blamed for concluding that when the party in power in the state is not the same at the one at the Centre, bottlenecks develop in the channels of resource flow from the Centre to the state. Memories such these certainly would influence not just politicians but also electorate behaviour. The Congress victory as well as the success of the AITMC has much to thank this.

The dramatic success of the AITMC and Congress victory has another very significant reason. During the last Congress tenure in power with chief minister Okram Ibobi at the helm, almost all other political parties in the state by their own selfish and limited visions marginalised themselves. On most of the contentious issues these parties were deafeningly silent. Many of their legislators hung around and nagged ministers for favours. Still many of them queued up for Congress tickets when the elections were announced. At least one party, the Communist Party of India, CPI, remained a formal partner in the state government, even after the party broke alliance with the Congress at the Centre.

The opposition space in the Assembly thus came to be abdicated. This is the vacuum just right for a shrill and pushy party with a charismatic leader like the AITMC to enter. The party is now the second largest party in the state Assembly with seven MLAs, commendable by any standard for a new comer. Had the party entered the stage earlier, it probably would have done much better. All other parties, depleted in morale and commitment, ended up unable to set up candidates in even half the Assembly constituencies. Many including the CPI and Manipur People’s Party, MPP, drew blanks.

Desperately trying to remain relevant, four of these parties urgently formed a pre-poll alliance, People’s Democratic  Front, PDF, but this proved too little too late, despite the alliance attracting seven more parties at a later stage. The PDF partners also probably did not consider the thought that the Anti Defection Law had lowered the ceiling on cabinet size – 12 including the chief minister in the case of Manipur, and therefore a coalition of more than two parties is likely to become strained as the only proven incentive of such coalitions is ministerial berths. The PDF hence did not present a picture of stability capable of instilling confidence to the badly fractured and shaken electorate of Manipur. The ruling Congress on the other hand was strong, resourceful, and because of its strength, able to posture as a non partisan party, reaching out to the valley as well as the hills, and to all ethnic groups, setting up candidates in all the 60 constituencies, campaigning with the confidence of winners. It was also able to convey the message, unlike the other disunited and decimated parties, that it had the sinews to hold the beleaguered state together. It won seats from amongst all ethnic communities too.

Most observers speculated a hung house with the ruling Congress emerging the single largest party. The cynicism in the state being what it is, nobody thought a clear mandate was a possibility. But as this author suggested in an article in The Hindu (March 10 issue), in the clear mandate of the people is still evident the same cynicism. If the voters have stopped expecting a change for the better, they were desperate to have things not slip any further.

It is no exaggeration that the outgoing Congress headed government inspired only anger and indignation amongst a large section of the people. Rampant official corruption which has become a way of life, acute shortage of electricity for almost a decade leaving the ordinary consumer with two hours of electricity a day to manage with, water taps which have run dry with the government not lifting a finger to do anything about it, crumbling roads, the continued imposition of the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act, AFSPA, for the repeal of which Irom Sharmila has been on an epic hunger strike for nearly 12 years now, abject lack of governance which has passed on the law and order agenda into the hands of anybody or any organisation with some nuisance value, periodic prolonged blockades on the state’s lifelines with the government looking the other way even as prices of essential commodities rise to the sky, meant untold misery, uncertainty and insecurity for the common man. Yet, Manipur came out and voted resoundingly to bring back the government it hated. It would not be incorrect to say Manipur result therefore was not so much about Congress winning. It was more about non-Congress parties losing.

The entry of the second political party from outside the state, NPF, was watched with particularly keen interest in both Manipur and Nagaland. On its count, many had even dubbed the Manipur election as an election which had another referendum within. The first was the familiar contest for power in the Legislative Assembly under provisions of the Indian constitution, and the second, a reconfirmation of the support for Greater Nagaland, championed strongly by the faction of the militant organisation National Socialist Council of Nagaland (or Nagalim) NSCN(IM), headed by Thuingaleng Muivah and Isak Chishi Swu, amongst the Naga tribes in Manipur. The Nagaland chief minister, Niphiu Rio, was among the star campaigners for the NPF, travelling by helicopter to the four hill districts of Manipur, Tamenglong, Senapati, Ukhrul and Chandel, considered by the Nagas to be part of their ancestral homeland.  The party set up 12 candidates, three each in Tamenglong, Senapati and Ukhrul, two in Chandel and one in a constituency in Churachandpur district adjoining Tamenglong district, again considered part of the Greater Naga homeland. The Nagaland chief minister, either out of conviction or to capitalise on what he thought was the dominant mood in these constituencies, called for the integration of Naga areas into one administrative establishment.

Those in Manipur with a claimed stake in the territorial integrity of the state would have heaved a sigh of relief, for if indeed this was a referendum for Greater Nagaland, the NPF which represented the ideology did not fare too well. It returned four seats out of its 12, winning by extremely narrow margins in all of them. Significantly, in Ukhrul, the home district of NSCN(IM)’s top leader, Thuingaleng Muivah, of thee Assembly seats the NPF could wrest only one, and this too by a razor thin margin of 55 votes. The two others went to the Congress.

The NPF’s tally is two lower than what another local Naga organisation in Manipur campaigning on the same ideological plank, the United Naga Council, UNC, which set up as many candidates in the same constituencies returned five years ago. This is despite allegations of interference by militants prompting the election office to order repolling in 76 polling stations in these hill districts. While it would be too hasty to draw conclusions, regardless of whether there was such a referendum, this result would have bearings on the peace negotiation between the NSCN(IM) and the Government of India now nearly a decade and a half old. But the verdict on this imagined referendum is perhaps a vindication of an innate understanding amongst the different ethnic communities that regardless of politics and polemics, they are the ones who would by the compulsions of geography and economy, continue to be neighbours. The Sadar Hills tussle between the Kukis and the Nagas in which the demands of the Kukis for bifurcation of a separate Kuki dominated administrative district from the Naga dominated Senapati district which led to a prolonged impasse and blockade of the state is just one episode that would have informed all of this impossibility.

There is yet another interesting development which went largely unnoticed in the national media which very well could have also contributed to the final outcome of the elections especially in the valley districts. But even if it did not, it carried a loud message. Just at the time of the announcement of the election by the Election Commission of India, seven powerful militant organisations operating in the valley got together to form a coordinating committee which came to be known as CorCom, and banned the Congress party from contesting the election for “being the most brutal party on the people”. On a daily basis, grenade attacks were made on Congress candidates and workers to coerce them into submission. The Congress landslide victory against this backdrop is also almost a statement of the will of the people on the matter of militancy. There have been little open defiance but by the secret ballot, this is not the first time. Manipur’s recent electoral history has always demonstrated such silent defiance is a character of the place. There are indeed shared concerns between the people and the militants, which is why the latter survive, but it is not complete congruence, and the demarcating line was what was clearly drawn again in the recent election. This should be a valuable lesson for both the establishment and as well as those fighting the establishment.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/04/relevance-of-congress-victory-in-manipur/

By Thamsing Lamkang, Pastor, LBC
In the United States, one of the best basketball players of all time was Michael Johnson. Although he is retired now but he still is a legend in the game he once played. He is also remembered by many because of his faith in Jesus. It is possible that some may not agree with this statement, no-one can deny that Johnson’s importance within the world of basketball was enormous that very few players have managed to attract so many spectators to the game the way he played. He did hands that were extremely large, which allowed him to catch the ball with amazing ease. He was even able to perform various circles with one arm, without losing his grip of the ball. What incredible hands!

In the history of mankind there existed a pair of hands that were without equal. Hands that healed, hands that cared, strong hands, and full of power. Hands that touched his fellow man, there are hands that communicate and expressed love.

There are hands that worked hard, and are roughed in the service of others. Hands that always gave and did not ask there are hands full of glory like the hands of Jesus. When no-one else offered their hands to aid the downtrodden, Jesus helped them. When no-one touched leapers for fear of catching the disease, and they were considered outcasts, Jesus drew near to them and took their hands. Yes, the people knew the hands Of Jesus because His hands are always available for help.

Whenever people brought the sick to Jesus, He laid His hands on them, His hands never is tried of doing good. When the crowds were hungry, Jesus took a little food in His hands and it multiplies. One day he touched a young girl, who had died, and immediately life returned to her, and on another occasion He touched the eyes of a blind man, and He saw the light for the first time in His life. Many people came to Jesus and asked Him to put His hands on them or a sick loved in. In all the places where Jesus journeyed, people exclaimed about the miracles His hands performed. Hands full of glory; they were the hands of God.

One day those hands were nailed to the cross. They were pierced, wounded and broken, they bled and suffered immense pain, tendons were ripped, and muscles torn. Those hands took on the pain of the world. On the cross, Jesus suffered the punishment for all the sin of the world, and He himself had not done anything wrong, ever! Jesus yielded up His powerful hands out of love, even for those who killed him. He knew that through his death, he was giving us life.

The story does not finish there! Jesus conquered death and rose again in power. When he appeared to His disciples, He shows them His nail-scared hands as proof of the pain God suffered for mankind. He said, ‘look at My hands’, and He blessed the people as He had done so many times before. The same Lord Jesus has promised us that ‘no one can snatch from His hands’. The most secure place we could be in, is in His hands.

Do you know that even today, in heaven, Jesus’ hands retain the scars? No-one need explanation to God about the debts of their pain; He already knows. He took the pain of the world on himself, and in His hands. Even today the heavenly hosts give glory to God of the world on Himself, and in His hands. Even today the heavenly hosts give glory. The hands of Jesus are the glorious hands of God!

The scars that Jesus bears in His hands are the greatest proof of God’s pain on our behalf!

Blessings in the scars of Jesus’ hand.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/04/the-hands-full-of-glory/

By Raghav Singh
In recent weeks there have been a lot of stories about employers asking candidates for their Facebook passwords or accepting a hiring manager as a friend, apparently sanctioned by HR. This is the kind of behavior that so endears HR to others in the organziation, and why it’s true that no child grows up wanting to work in HR. I suspect this has more to do with some people trying to justify their existence and demonstrate that they belong in the 21st century than with accomplishing anything useful. The problem may solve itself since such acts are a violation of FB’s privacy policy – but never underestimate the tenacity of an HR professional determined to prove their usefulness.

But the more relevant question here is: what do they expect to find?

Pictures of drunken behavior? How does one define that for a still picture? And, if there is such a picture, does that mean this is the candidate’s normal behavior? A company that claims to screen candidates based on their Facebook profiles showed me a picture of a person standing in front what they claimed was a marijuana plant. There are at least seven varieties of plants that can be mistaken for marijuana. Even if it was marijuana, then what does it prove?

Someone I know who was advocating for this same company said it was worth a few bucks to know if a candidate had been making racist statements. This is a perfect illustration of the problem. The first question I would ask is: “If it’s only a few bucks, then just how likely is it the information is any good?” There’s a high risk of false positives. The use of certain words may make it clear that a person is racist, but it’s rarely that obvious. Given the maniacal devotion to political correctness in some quarters, anything can be deemed offensive. For example, some people think that any criticism of the President is a racist statement. So it’s largely a matter of opinion.

It’s All About Me

It doesn’t have to be a subjective process. There is some useful data that can be mined from Facebook. Recent research shows a link between the number of friends a person has on Facebook and the degree to which s/he is a “socially disruptive” narcissist. People who have lots of  friends, tag themselves more often, change their profile pictures a lot, and update their newsfeeds more regularly tend to be very narcissistic — suggesting a toxic personality. Such individuals can be very self-absorbed, vain, and with exhibitionistic tendencies. They need to be constantly at the centre of attention. They cannot stand to be ignored or waste a chance of self-promotion, so they often say shocking things or inappropriately self-disclose. They have a sense of deserving.

A person displaying these traits in the workplace can be a very disruptive influence. But then, that may be the new normal. Other research suggests that we’re seeing an epidemic of narcissism, especially in the generation entering the workforce now, which has a highly inflated sense of self-worth. Of course, continued high unemployment may solve that problem (there’s always a silver lining).

These are broad conclusions and the research needs to be developed further, but it is revealing and indicative of certain traits that should be better investigated when hiring. But this isn’t the first study of its kind. Other research has suggested that social networks in general tend to be a place where people go to repair their damaged ego and seek social support. Facebook just makes it easier (I doubt that anyone would do this on LinkedIn).

What it Means for Recruiters

It’s still early days in the social media world, especially for recruiters, so tread carefully. To reach any conclusions about a candidate would require a careful analysis of their profile, and even then it’s hardly definitive. Charles Handler of Rocket-Hire, who is an expert and does a lot of work in assessments, mentioned that for Facebook to be truly useful in evaluating candidates it would require attaching assessment information to a profile. The profile should be set up so that it collects information related to jobs. This information could then be overlaid onto a breakdown of the job along the same dimensions covered in the assessment. We’re a long ways from that.

Facebook can add some value to a selection process, but not a lot at this point. So much of it is subjective or incomplete. There’s also potential for trouble because using any information gleaned from Facebook can be a violation of privacy. This is the position of the ACLU, which is aggressively supporting legislation to stop the practice. Laws are already being proposed in several states and at the federal level, which would effectively block employers from using any information on social networks as a source of information for screening applicants. That may be overkill, and are a potential goldmine for lawyers, but no one should be surprised. Given how popular such legislation will be, it is virtually guaranteed to pass.
Courtesy: www.ere.net

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/04/what-facebook-reveals-about-candidates/

By: Satya Gopal Dey
Prof. Shantha Sinha, Chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) is known for her pioneering work on the issue of child rights. In recognition of her efforts, she was awarded the Padmashri in 1998 and the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in 2003. She is the founder Secretary Trustee of MV Foundation, a registered Trust based in Andhra Pradesh which has withdrawn over four Lakh of children from work and mainstreamed them into schools. MV Foundation`s work in ensuring for rescued child laborers and preparing them for formal schooling into an age-appropriate class has been widely acknowledged and has informed education policies in India and other developing countries. She is a Professor in Political Science, University of Hyderabad. Prof.Sinha recently came to Kolkata to attend a state level consultation as Chief Guest on “Revisiting Child Protection: Diverse Institutional Approaches and Community Based Action”, organised by the ‘Coalition for Child Rights to Protection – West Bengal’ in collaboration with ‘CRY- Child Rights and You’. This exclusive interview with Prof. Shantha Sinha Covered by Satya Gopal Dey on behalf of Imphal Free Press was taken en route from Kolkata Airport to the venue of the Consultation at Rotary Sadan. It is worth sharing that Imphal Free Press for the first time informed the people of Manipur about the visit of NCPCR in 2008.

IFP: Can you give me an overview of implementation Right of the Children for Free and Compulsory education Act in India?

Prof.Sinha: It seems that preparatory work for the implementation of the RTE is being done in most states as for example, mapping out the required number of teachers, construction of classrooms and so on. In some states, trainings have also been conducted for the teachers. In my assessment, the pace has been slow as all the entitlements are to be in place by 2013.

IFP: What role being played by NCPCR as statutory body as per the provision of the Right to Education legislation in particular Context of Manipur and other North Eastern states.

Prof.Sinha:  NCPCR has established an RTE division to monitor the implementation of the Act. It has conducted public hearings in 11 states and heard over 2500 cases so far. This includes the state of Manipur as well. It has also conducted Social Audits in 12 states and it includes the state of Assam. Further, it has looked at the implementation of the RTE in the context of children being trafficked from Meghalaya to Tamil Nadu and has held a series of meetings with the government in Meghalaya on the matter.

IFP: NCPCR is authorized to monitor RTEA. What are the key challenges the commission is facing as per as the implementation of the act is concerned? And how the commission is planning to mitigate them?

Prof.Sinha:  Absence of a Grievance Redressal Mechanism at the  local level and identifying personnel within the department who should be held responsible for violation of each of the entitlements prescribed under the Act makes it difficult for the Commission for a timely follow up and providing for urgent remedies on the complaints it receives. In addition, it feels that planning for Children’s Right to Education on the basis of enrolment statistics (which is pegged at 97 per cent) leaves out children who have dropped out of school, migrant children, child labour, children who are being trafficked and girls. It is so important that all planning is done based on statistics of retention of children in schools. Most teachers and functionaries of the education department are still not serious about this important fundamental right. 

IFP: You are the first Chair Person of NCPCR and the members of Child Right organisations are in deed honoured to have you as the Chairperson in your second term. What is the significant action being taken by NCPCR to ensure Child Right? Could you please highlight some of this significant action in particular context of Manipur and other North Eastern states?

Prof.Sinha: In addition to monitoring of RTE, NCPCR has taken up issues of malnutrition, juvenile justice, child labour, rights of children in areas of civil unrest, children affected and infected with HIV and AIDS. In all these issues, it has taken up complaints, has held wide range of consultations and made policy recommendations to the government. In Manipur alone, it held two public hearings focusing on children affected and infected with HIV and AIDS, child trafficking and Right to Education. Teams from NCPCR have visited Manipur to follow up on an important case pending with the Supreme Court regarding trafficking of children. In Assam, it has piloted a programme in Kokrajar and Chirang districts to protect Children’s rights in the context of civil unrest with support from the Prime Minister’s relief fund. In Tripura, the commission has been following up with protection of rights of Reyang tribal children from Mizoram living in relief camps in Tripura. In Meghalaya, it has taken up the issue of child labour in Jaintia hills and has been systematically following up for their rescue, relief and rehabilitation.

IFP: NCPCR formalised a dedicated Cell for North Eastern States – What is their task being designated and how to approach them?

Prof.Sinha: Yes NCPCR formalised a dedicated cell for North Eastern Sates. In view of the fact that there are specific issues of violations on children’s rights in Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, it was felt necessary to set up a cell in the commission dedicated for the North-East states. The Cell would go into the details of policies as well as the implementation in these states and maintain contacts with both the civil society as well as the government. The groups may contact the NCPCR’s office for any assistance. The address is in the website. 

IFP: Coming again to the context of Manipur, Child Right Vulnerability and the gravity of the same is in deed different in this state. Children are either single or double orphaned due to conflict or HIV AIDS, several other Child Rights vulnerability are there.  What is your message to both Central as well as State Government?

Prof.Sinha:  As we understand, it is a complex issue requiring a coordinated action from the level of the village up to the central government. Further, it requires coming together of all concerned departments such as health, nutrition, women and child development, social welfare, education and labour. There are also the issue of a porous border with neighbouring countries that makes it even more precarious for children in the districts bordering those nations. Unless, there is a decentralized plan of action and a mechanism to track each and every child in the area to help restore them their childhood, it seems these problems would not be resolved easily.

IFP: State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) has not yet been formed in several states. You have reminded all the Chief Secretaries of the state. What is your opinion on this?

Prof.Sinha: It is so important that all the states in the country establish SCPCRs. We have been writing to the governments impressing upon them the need for the same. The link between protection of child rights and India’s development and democracy has so far not been recognized sufficiently. Unfortunately, protections of children’s rights have not caught the imagination of those in authority and in government. 

IFP: Your idea and contribution to eradicate Child Labour is in deed a legend – Please tell us some thing about this.

Prof.Sinha: The MV Foundation with whom I was associated based its work on simple, non-negotiable principles that no child must work or be in labour force and every child shall attend full time formal school; there shall be no distinction between hazardous labour and non-hazardous labour; a child out of school has to be considered as child labour or potential child labour; and finally, there can be no excuse for perpetuating child labour in the country. Based on this, it discovered the enormous demand for education among the poorest of parents in the country and their willingness to sacrifice to enable children to go to schools. It also found that children were employed because they were a source of cheap labour who could be forced to work for long hours without questioning. It was more the employer’s need than the poverty of the parent that compelled children to work.

IFP: What role being played by NCPCR to collaborate with Civil Society Organisation to ensure child Rights. Could you please give us some high lights?

Prof.Sinha: I would like to thank all the civil society organisations in the state of North East, especially in Manipur who have brought issues to the fore on violation of child rights, giving the Commission detailed reports, supporting its public hearings and being the eyes and ears for all its activities.

IFP: What is your special message to the People and Government of Manipur in the context of restoration of Child Rights?

Prof.Sinha: NCPCR recognizes the odds against which both the people and government are located in this particular historical juncture. It must be realized that one has to transcend all political and other differences in support of children and for protection of their rights. On the matter of child rights there can only be consensus. Perhaps by coming together on children’s rights there could be a harmonisation of the society.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/04/perhaps-by-coming-together-on-childrens-rights-there-could-be-a-harmonisation-of-the-society-an-exclusive-interview-with-profshatha-sinha-chairperson-national-commission-for-protection-of-child-rights/

By B.G. Verghese        
The disgraceful military-civil crisis the country has witnessed denotes complete failure of leadership on the part of the Army Chief and Defence Minister. Rather than try and paper the cracks once more, both should go. The honour and security of the nation is far more important than small egos, “goodness”, petty party and civil-military infighting and a frightening public tendency to suspect conspiracy and corruption at anybody’s prompting. The larger and far more important issue that must be addressed is the dismaying exhibition of deep systemic and structural rot for which successive governments, across parties, must take responsibility. The fact is that indecision, drift and factionalism, not only on defence issues, has become the hallmark of governance and politics in key areas. The role of sections of the media in all of this has been less than glorious.  

After a wholly unnecessary and unseemly age row, the Army Chief casually informs the country though the media that he had a year or more back been offered a Rs 14 crore bribe by a just-retired Lt-General  to facilitate purchase of what he considered sub-standard and overly priced Tatra trucks manufactured by Bharat Heavy Earthmovers Ltd. This was an extraordinary and even irresponsible stance. Why make that disclosure now? The Chief had, however, properly reported the matter immediately to the Defence Minister who asked him to reduce the matter to writing and initiate action. The Chief did not wish to pursue the matter while RM demurred as there was nothing in writing!

Here was a duet of folly and farce when the house was on fire. The RM appears not to have kept the Prime Minister in the loop, nor the Defence Committee of the Cabinet, the National Security Council, the NSA or perhaps even the Defence Secretary.  The entire national security apparatus was seemingly by-passed. National Secrecy trumped National Security for a whole year until the bubble was burst by the General for collateral reasons – suggestively to stymie a military-civil arms dealer cabal conspiring to defame him and subvert honest and effective Army procurement.

A very recent letter from the Chief to the PM was next leaked by persons unknown and has added to public consternation for the not so secret revelation that the Army is ill equipped, even unprepared, to fight a war today for failure to procure critical equipment such as artillery, armour piercing tank shells and so forth.

Instead of addressing the fundamental rot, debate has revolved around the second order of irrelevance, with a gleeful media and bemused panellists dancing round the mulberry bush. The current tamasha, no less, has the whole world laughing at India – and has done great harm to the image and morale of the armed forces, one of the country’s proudest assets and a great fighting force. Two issues that emerge cry for immediate attention.  Civil-military mistrust within the Ministry of Defence and Defence production and procurement policy.  

The Armed forces are not integrated with MOD but constitute a parallel though subordinate echelon. The three Services too are not integrated but are under separate commands, and lack increasingly required coordination despite a weakly structured chiefs of staff committee. Both are hangovers of our colonial inheritance and should have been removed long ago. Nehru, fed by Krishna Menon, was for civil, not just political, supremacy fearing a military coup. It was for this reason that the Kargil Review Committee and subsequent committee recommendations favouring a chief of defence staff and an integrated MOD Defence Ministry failed to pass muster, with inter-service rivalries reinforcing the case for civilian control. This obsolete structure has exacerbated civil-military mistrust, caused endless delays in processing matters and allowed many emerging matters to fall between the cracks. 

The absurd age controversy – fed on conspiracy theories to pave a line of succession by seniority for chosen favourites – also points to the need for urgent reform. The highest military commands must be based on merit and efficiency, not gerontocracy.  The decision taken years ago to elevate battalion commanders to the rank of full Colonel has again put a premium on age.  Merit must count. Some civilians rise to the highest ranks not on the basis of competence but because they are survivors, having done no “wrong” in hindsight only because they did nothing and merely marked time. Achievers take risks and most likely make mistakes. So to equate bona fide error or less than optimal outcomes or additional costs with malfeasance – a virulent disease of epidemic proportions in India – is to invite paralysis. Few realise that non-decisions constitute decisions and can be extravagantly costly.

And so the gaping gaps in military procurement. No artillery acquisitions have been made since Bofors. Vendors who lose out turn “whistle-blower”, allege faulty or unfair trials, and hint of corrupt practice. Disgruntled officials indulge in selective, motivated leaks and find eager media partners looking for “breaking news”, howsoever uncorroborated, shallow politicians anxious to score a point, any point, and nervous officials and ministers afraid to decide. The result is to put procurement on hold, order re-tendering, and blacklist (all) vendors. Middlemen are seen as dangerous characters seeking a cut whereas many play a most useful role and need merely be licensed under rigorous rules. With the cost and limited market for cutting-edge defence research and production being what it is, not just vendors but governments woo India, the largest arms importer in the world. Big money goes with large defence contracts. But not to procure entails multiple jeopardy –  shrinking or ageing inventories , unpreparedness, lack of training  and, ultimately, higher costs, sometimes on account of emergency purchases as during Kargil where the CAG’s quaint mode of accounting possibly constituted the real scam.

We are import-dependant because indigenous defence production and research have been scorned. More exciting to visit France or the US and demand fancy qualitative requirements based on annual brochure upgrades than to invest time and money in our own ordnance factories and PSUs. The Indian private sector was ridiculously shut out for years on grounds of secrecy, competence and inexperience while foreign vendors were patronised to learn at our expense! The military is as much at fault here as MOD. The Navy has done better than the other services in indigenisation. This is because the warship is a complete platform in itself and the Navy started building warships early on and had its own officers and specialists, commanding and manning the naval dockyards.

There are clear lessons to be learnt from the current crisis. Defence communication and information systems remain hopelessly inadequate. The DRDO, Ordnance factories and PSUs as domestic vendors must have a close interface with those they are intended to serve. They cannot function on a cost-plus basis without sound timelines and quality control. The private sector must not be kept at arms length. Structural reorganisation at the top with a CDS, a truly integrated MOD, jointness and merit can wait no longer. Parliament must insist on quick discussion and implementation of the Naresh Chandra Committee’s forthcoming report on preparedness and higher defence management – the nth in the series.   
www.bgverghese.com

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/04/deep-systemic-defence-rot/