Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Another defense scandal' that was published in Newsband

Another defense scandal

Just recently the contract for the purchase of AgustaWestland AW101 helicopters was cancelled. The AW101 deal is somewhat like the Bofors scandal.

It is clear that many companies are seeking a share of India’s growing defense market. This has created a rise in corruption in defense matters.

Corruption in defense purchases is not something new for India. This problem has dogged the country for decades. From artillery to electronics, contract after contract has come under suspicion.  

India has now blacklisted at least 15 firms on corruption-related charges. The firms indicted for corruption should be punished and harsh financial penalties should be imposed on them. The defense procurement procedure needs to be streamlined. The best way to curb corruption is to cancel deals arising out of bribery.

The image of the current government is already tarnished by many scams. The broom of Aam Aadmi Party is showing signs of sweeping all the corrupt politicians from the face of Indian politics, forever.

In case of AW101 type helicopter, an amount was supposed to be paid to this defense firm in exchange of only a paltry number of helicopters. Now the question is when we have a high quality defense establishments in India like HAL, DRDO which have proved their quality of work in various sectors of defense, why should we look outside for arsenals? We should be proud about the fact that we have these organizations in our country which are now among the list of top defense companies in the world, and when it comes to manufacture of VVIP helicopters, these Indian companies have already been appreciated for their works in helicopter division through products like Dhruv, ALH Weaponised Rudra and light combat helicopter - the only stealth 5th gen helicopter available anywhere in the world. What we need is the self reliance in defense. Why should we run behind other countries for armory?  Among 1.2 billion people we can surely find suitable people with proper intelligence to design indigenous armory? When our scientists can make a voyage to Mars at the not-even-imaginable expenditure, why can't we let them build our own armory?

Former Army Chief Tyagi is alleged to have been involved in this deal. For our borders to remain impervious and impregnable, armed forces have a greater role to play. This starts with Chief of staff who should be paragons of virtue and not with illogical ideas. The government should tighten the norms for selection of army chief.