Letter to BS: Will the govt do something about the white elephants?

There are several media reports relating to drastic re-organisation of the armed forces, the underlying objective being to increase the tooth to tail ratio. One must, however, caution that a reduction of the forces cannot be sudden. Recall how the Army was reduced from about 2 million to less than 400,000 from 1947-1962 till China gave us a resounding kick. But you cannot increase the strength by more than 2-3 per cent per annum of the normal intake or you will have bottlenecks in promotions and careers. The effectiveness of the current resizing will be known when present colonels become generals. 

However, neither the defence minister nor the Army chief has said anything about the real tail that is a drain on the defence budget. These are the civilians in the defence ministry and other organisations like the Military Engineering Sevices, Ordnance Factories Board, Defence Research and Development Organisation etc. These have 400,000 civilians to support 1.3 million armed forces — a ridiculous ratio and annual budgets exceeding Rs 550 billion. Their jobs can be done by retired veterans more efficiently. Their cost, including salaries and pensions, is hidden in the overall defence budget. Show the separation of the budget between combatants (who come under the Army, Navy, Air Force Acts) and civilians and we will know where the unionised fat lies. Will the government do something about the white elephants? 

T R Ramaswami, Mumbai

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