FinMin for curbs on defence expenditure

Amid a raging debate on whether India should cut the size of its defence forces, the finance ministry announced which side it was batting on when Secretary (Expenditure) Sanjiv Mishra said it was not just the Rs 13,000 crore pension liability of the services that the government was concerned about but also other manpower costs like the noncombatants they employed.

Mishra said there was no strategic rationale for the armed services continuing to run military farms. Training institutions that they currently run could be outsourced as could maintenance and overhauling services.

"The services have to adopt modern day corporate principles to prevent waste of manpower" he said at a seminar on Defence economics. He suggested that logistics management also be outsourced.

Pointing out that countries like the US and China had already begun downsizing their armed forces, he said that at a time when India wanted to pursue a model of inclusive growth, it need to decide how to restrain expenditure, especially defence expenditure.

Conceding that manpower reduction did not necessarily mean reduction in expenditure, he said China and the US had cut down manpower for technical reasons. It was quality these nations were concerned about, not quantity.

Mishra also said the services needed to change their outlook. There were some traditions by which the services fought battles but these were the very reasons for preventing a revolution in military affairs.

The services needed to be more focused on self sufficiency, jointness and interoperability. It was the management of the transition that needed attention.

Mishra urged the services to review the notion of "teeth to tail' as it worked currently. Where the private sector could provide goods and services, these should be utilised, he said.