SECC 2011 data: SC to hear Maha’s plea on December 13
NEW DELHI: Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar on Friday said his force is keeping a close watch on Chinese activities in the Indian Ocean and is fully ready to deal with any security threat even as he fully backed the ambitious triservices reforms that included setting up of a maritime theatre command.
Addressing a press conference on the eve of Navy Day, he said the situation along India's northern border has added to the security complexities at a time the country was reeling under COVID-19 and that the scenario continues.
Referring to China's rapid expansion of its naval assets, the newly-appointed Navy chief said “it is not just the numbers that matter” as he highlighted the importance of strategy, operational plans and weapons to combat various threats.
“I want to assure you that the Indian Navy is a well-balanced force and is confident of defending India's maritime interests for sure,” he said, responding to a volley of questions on the threat from China in the maritime domain.
“The Chinese activities and
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Friday said it would hear on December 13 a plea filed by the Maharashtra government seeking direction to the Centre and other authorities to disclose to the state the SECC 2011 raw caste data of OBCs which has not been made available to them despite repeated demands. The Centre had in September this year filed an affidavit in the matter in the apex court saying caste Census of Backward Classes is administratively difficult and cumbersome" and excluding such information from the purview of Census is a "conscious policy decision".
The government had said in its affidavit that caste enumeration in the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 was fraught with mistakes and inaccuracies. The plea came up for hearing on Friday before a deployments are kept under close watch. We have our plans,” he added.
Asked about the Navy's earlier plan of becoming a 170-ship force, he said a new scientific process to assess the requirement under a 10-year Integrated Capability Development Plan (ICDP) is underway following which decisions will be taken.
“It may be 230 (ships), it may be 300, the process is on. It is a scientific process. I cannot give you a number at this point. We will arrive at a decision following the completion of the process,” he said.
The Navy had set a target to become a 170-ship force by 2027. At present, the Navy has bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and C T Ravikumar.
The counsel appearing for Maharashtra told the bench that they have filed a rejoinder in the matter. The bench observed that an affidavit has been filed and it has said that the data is unusable. We have filed a rejoinder and we have pointed out that this is not correct, the counsel appearing for Maharashtra said.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said the matter requires hearing as The Census Act will have to be examined. The counsel representing Maharashtra said there was some urgency in the matter. The bench, while posting the plea for hearing on December 13, asked the apex court registry to circulate the rejoinder affidavit filed by the state. Besides this plea, two other petitions related to around 130 ships.
Throwing his support to the theaterisation plan, he said it will take time and noted that it took the US military almost 50 years to put in place the joint command and control structures after it was rolled out.
“I would like to reiterate the Navy's wholehearted support for reforms in our higher defence organisation, and on enhancing tri-service synergy,” he said.
“We are looking at the establishment of the ‘Maritime Theatre Command' in the near future, which would further buttress ‘Joint planning and Joint application of force' in the maritime domain. The details are being worked out the issue came up for hearing before the bench.
The top court asked senior advocate Vikas Singh, who was representing the petitioners in the fresh pleas, to serve the copy of the petitions to the standing counsel for Maharashtra as well as the state election commission. The bench posted these petitions for hearing on December 6.
The government's affidavit, filed in the top court by the secretary of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, had said the Centre has already issued a notification in January last year prescribing the series of information to be collected during Census 2021 and it covers many areas including the information relating to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes but does not refer to any other category of caste. and maybe finalised by the mid of next year,” he added.
The Navy chief said the third stage of “war-gaming” is underway based on recommendations made in specific studies conducted on the theaterisation plan.
“In a nutshell, I would say that we are looking at a maritime theatre command where largely the command structures will remain in place with a lean theatre command organisation on top of it. The charter of this theatre command will largely be operational,” he said.
The Navy chief said operational powers are set to be vested with the theatre commander.
“It may happen in six months, it may take a little longer. The timeframe will depend on how we address the complexities involved,” he said.
The Navy chief said the year 2021, as the previous year, has been defined by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In addition, the ongoing security situation on our northern borders has added to our security complexities. This dual-challenge scenario continues as we speak,” he said.
“In these testing times, the Indian Navy aims to stand steadfast in furthering our national and maritime interests. Our focus on maintaining combat and mission readiness resulted in deterring any misadventure in the maritime domain,” he said without elaborating.
On the Chinese Navy's growing combat capability and presence in the Indian Ocean, the Navy chief said the ongoing developments and deployments in the region are factored into the Indian Navy's capability development plans and preparedness.
“We are aware of the developments of the Chinese Navy. They have built 138 ships in the last 10 years. Every nation is entitled to have its own capability development. We keep an eye on all developments in our area,” he said.
“It is not just the numbers that matter. It is also about people, how you employ the weapons that you have, your strategy and your operational plans etc. There are a whole lot of issues,” he said.
He said despite the complex security situation in the region and the adverse impact of Covid, the Indian Navy, as a cohesive team, maintained the operational tempo and ensured the security of the country.