Oppn slams use of army for constructing bridges; Army 1st

Opposition parties today condemned as "deplorable and atrocious" the Centres decision to rope in the Army to rebuild foot overbridges at three railway stations in Mumbai including one which witnessed a deadly stampede last month.
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said it seems like the Army is the "1st number on the speed dial" while Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, a former army captain, said the Centre's decision was "unprecedented and deplorable."
But Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said a call was taken to lend cooperation seeing the urgency of the matter as the Army has its role at the borders, noting the Elphinstone station tragedy was "so big" and that this is probably the first time the government has asked the Army to come in to build what could otherwise be called a civil work.

The criticism of the Centre came hours after Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that the Army will help build a new foot overbridge at the Elphinstone Road station in Mumbai by January 31, as Sitharaman and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal visited the station. Twenty-three people were killed in a stampede on the crowded foot overbridge (FOB) at the Elphinstone Road station last month.
Fadnavis, who accompanied Sitharaman and Goyal, said the Army will also help in building foot overbridges at two other stations.
Senior Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam took a a potshot at the BJP-Sena government in Maharashtra, saying, "Hope Army will not be called to fill potholes."

Capt. Amarinder Singh said the Centre's move was "an admission of the failure" of the government and the Indian Railways.

Singh, who has served the Army as a Captain before joining politics, said the Army's job is to train for war and protect the countrys borders, not to build bridges and clean the roads.
Singh termed the move as "atrocious", and said the central and state governments should put their own resources at the disposal of the Railways if the situation was so urgent and serious. "It is an unprecedented decision to rope in the Indian Army for rebuilding the Elphinstone bridge and it is deplorable and admission of failure of the government and Indian Railways."

"Whatever the urgency of the situation, it does not merit such a decision, which would have adverse long-term implications as it could encourage the civilian authorities to seek Army help for major civilian works every time they find themselves ill-equipped to handle an infrastructural or other challenge," he said in a statement in Chandigarh.
He urged Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to refrain from diverting critical defence resources of the country to civilian works, saying it would set a bad precedent.
Singh said Sitharaman was making the same mistake that Major General BM Kaul, General Officer Commanding (GoC) of 'Red Eagles 4th Division, had made before the 1962 war with China.

"The scandalous misuse, by him, of military manpower to build accommodation cost the Indian Army heavy during the Sino-Indian war," the chief minister said.
These kind of acts led to severe downgradation of the defence services then, Singh said and warned that the Army would end up suffering similar lowering of its status if the defence ministry does not withdraw its decision to use the armed forces for building civilian bridges in Mumbai.
"As it is, the Army is regularly used to help out in emergency situations such as floods and earthquakes, and is even engaged in infrastructural development in sensitive areas, such as the North-East.

"If it is now burdened with the additional task of helping out in other civilian tasks, merely because the civilian authorities are unable to handle it, it would lead to further impacting its resources," Singh said.
"It would also lower the morale of the Army personnel, who join the force with a vision to secure the countrys borders and protect its people from the enemy," he added.
The defence minister, instead of being a party to this decision and announcing it with such pride, should have categorically rejected any such suggestion in the interest of the armed forces, the chief minister said.

"The army was to be a measure of last resort to be called upon in extreme emergency. Now it seems like it s the 1st (first) number on the speed dial," Omar wrote on Twitter.