chetak wrote:
ASPuar ji,
There are crumbs from the table too.
Many years ago, at an air show, I personally saw the complimentary watch that was given to a worthy with a number of shiny stars.
It could, in those days, have been exchanged for a fully loaded late model Mercedes 300 with a lot of change left over.
Not to mention khana peena & what not.
But still its only crumbs from the high table.
This thread seems to consist of heresay, and conjecture, with a liberal dose of tar and feathers issued by all those who feel that the armed forces are not conforming to what they want.
Chetak, what is the average kickback value in a medium sized defence deal today? 5% of 1000 crores is? 50 crores. That is the average middle man/politicos take. And they do these deals 3-4 times a year. So, how many S-300 mercedes is that?
And do you really have so low an opinion of our forces officers that you think that "Khaana peena" is sufficient to influence their decision making process? Are you sure that even you believe what you are saying?
Who makes the decisions in the MoD? The army? No. The bureaucrat? Yes. The politician? Yes. Who gets the money? Obviously, he who makes the decisions.
Even your post, dubious though it is, says it all. You justify your rants against the forces with "still, there are crumbs from the table". First of all, this is unlikely. Secondly, Big deal. Those crumbs count for nothing if someones paid the political heirarchy a 100 crores to get their work done. What the politician says, goes.
Again and again I will say this. The money goes to the politician and the bureaucrat. And the orders come from them too.
Any army man who toes the line, simply does so to keep his job!
To Vivek K's post, yes it is strange. But it is childish to keep insisting that its the armys fault, when you know full well that it isnt the army's decision in the first place. Who does the middleman arms dealer pay off? The DGMF? Nope. The bureaucrat, and the politico.
To Alexis: It is not the Army's brief to nurture a military industrial complex. It is not within its power to do so. And thats all. That is how the government of India has ordained things to be. The army cant be blamed for not doing something that the democratically elected representatives of the people do not give them the power to do. The army has no power over how the budget is spent, except the very limited financial powers with army commanders and the chief. This is within a couple of crores. Not enough to nurture 10 flower gardens nowadays, let alone a military industrial complex. All spending for defence is done by the ministry of defence FOR the armed forces. The ministry "provides" the forces with wherewithal to do their job.
The quality of the reasoning behind the anti military posts here convinces me that the majority of posters providing their 2 cents on the subject know very little about it, and have ignored facts in their search for a scapegoat.
Where excoriation is required, fine, issue it. But dont forget, the people you are badmouthing are people who have given a lifetime of service to this country. Think about the truth and correctness of what you are saying before you say it.
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