A WORK IN PROGRESS
The defence ministry has seen tremendous policy initiatives over the past year, but these have yet to deliver results on the ground. There has been a huge change, however, in the working style of the ministry
The defence ministry was a clear thrust area for the BJP-led NDA when it began its tenure in 2014. The party manifesto listed as many as 15 promises to revitalise this critical ministry, right from speeding up arms purchases to enhancing foreign direct investments in the defence sector, developing indigenous defence technologies and revitalising defence manufacturing and meeting the long-pending demands of a hike in defence pensions and to build a war memorial for Indian soldiers who fell in battle after Independence.
Four years later, the defence ministry has seen a mixed bag of achievements. It has delivered on several promises like One Rank, One Pension, has started building the national war memorial but has been slower in getting results in other sectors like indigenous defence manufacturing and attracting FDI in defence. Some of the reasons for this have to do with policies being announced without reforming the structures that would implement them or ensuring continuity of leadership. Frequent changes at the top—three ministers in four years—have also dissipated the concentrated focus this specialist ministry demands.
The reasons for many of these flaws are systemic but the impact is debilitating and has the potential of crippling India’s aspirations to become a great power or even be a net provider of regional security. India is the world’s fourth largest military spender but the modernisation of the armed forces continues to suffer because of the lack of structural reform in the defence ministry and armed forces. The resultant weak defence industrial base means India cannot forge long-term defence partnerships by selling arms to friendly countries the way China can. An unreformed MoD—it accounts for 12.1 per cent
By Sandeep Unnithan CHANGES AT THE TOP—FOUR MINISTERS IN
FOUR YEARS—HAVE AFFECTED THE CONCENTRATED FOCUS THIS SPECIALIST MINISTRY DEMANDS
of central government spending—will mean laudable goals like self-sufficiency in military hardware (Make in India) will lag because they end up becoming the proverbial cart before the horse. Nirmala Sitharaman, who took office eight months ago as India’s first full-time woman defence minister, might have looked like the tail-end batsman coming in in the slog overs of an exciting one-dayer. She has so far proved to be a tenacious player, bringing in unprecedented energy into the office, travelling across the country to take in military manoeuvres and driving many of the policy changes, a new defence manufacturing policy and defence industrial corridors. How these policies will play out in the backdrop of a stagnant defence budget, remains to be seen. Some early symptoms of this squeeze have already kicked in. Fewer weapon contracts are being signed, particularly for indigenous hardware. This directly impacts the Make in India defence manufacturing initiative and, consequently, has resulted in scant global interest—India received just Rs 1.38 crore in FDI in four years.
Yet there have been other, more significant and commendable changes in the working style of the ministry. The defence ministry under Sitharaman and her predecessor Manohar Parrikar has been far more open and responsive than it has been anytime in the past. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) which could never hope for a meeting with senior officials now find doors in South Block opening up to them. Largescale corruption in defence purchases appears to have come to an end. Easy imports of military hardware, which prove costly in the long run because they contribute nothing to the indigenous defence manufacturing base, are no longer the norm. The policy changes of the past few months have enthused the domestic industry that there is indeed light at the end of the tunnel.