 "Chennai: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addresses a press conference on the first day of the Defexpo2018, in Chennai on Wednesday. The Expo is being held between April 11 and 14. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to officially inaugurate the")
Successive defence ministries have adopted the adage: when nothing else is working, set up a committee. Give it a sweeping mandate. Demand a comprehensive report. Then, implement a few recommendations and put the important ones in cold storage.
Over the preceding two decades, two National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and two United Progressive Alliance (UPA) governments have done exactly this. In 1999, the Kargil Review Committee reported on defence reform, with a Group of Ministers reiterating many of its key recommendations in 2001. In 2005-06, the Vijay Kelkar committee submitted its seminal report on revitalising defence production. In 2012, it was
