Letter to BS: Has any FM ever been held responsible for defence snafus?

The decision of the defence minister to throw open the roads in cantonments may have pleased her political colleagues but is this the hallmark of her performance? Can she defend the country? The answer is, no. For a defence minister to be effective, he or she has also to be the finance minister of her ministry. If the defence minister has to go time and again to the finance minister with a begging bowl, then the defence of the country is not the responsibility of the defence minister but that of the finance minister. 

Has any finance minister ever been held responsible for any of our defence snafus? Examine deeply and you will find they are equally culpable. 

Recall what Sam Manekshaw told Y B Chavan, then finance minister at the famous meeting in March 1971 before the Bangladesh war. Nothing has changed since then. The defence budget is grandly announced and then nothing is spent and it is used to shore up the deficit. Can the defence minister or the Army chief, or the defence secretary give a certificate to Parliament that the armed forces have enough to fight a two-front war for a minimum number of days? What we need is a heavyweight defence minister. Say Mohan Bhagwat or even Amit Shah. 

T R Ramaswami Mumbai

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