Standing Committee asks if we are battle ready?

The standing committee on defence has asked the three service chiefs to meet it on April 20 and provide them with an explanation whether their troops are battle ready, reports said on Monday.

This comes in the wake of a letter from the army chief to the Prime Minister was which said that the army is using obsolete equipment and that the country's security is at risk.

Are we battle ready? Parl panel asks service chiefs to explain - Hindustan Times

Why is IBN fueling in these stories? It is supposed to be ruling Govt's mouthpiece

Three service chiefs to depose before parliamentary panel

NEW DELHI: In an extraordinary step, the parliamentary standing committee on defence on Monday decided to call the three service chiefs to give an account of the state of preparedness of the forces against the backdrop of Army chief Gen V K Singh speaking of shortages and deficiencies.

The decision to call the chiefs of Army, Air and Navy before it on April 20 was part of an exercise to understand the issue of defence preparedness as the panel was examining the budgetary proposals of the defence ministry for 2012-13, sources said.

The sources said the date for appearance could be adjusted to ensure that all the three Chiefs are available on the same day.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the committee which also heard defence secretary Shashi Kant Sharma confirming that the Army did not need to notify the government on their movements and that the exercise of January 16-17 reported in the media was a "routine drill".

Sharma underlined that no standard operating procedures were violated by the Army and the media report was "misleading" and drew "wrong inferences", the sources said. Satisfied by the defence secretary's contention, committee members like Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Manish Tewari, Naresh Gujral and Uday Singh said the matter should be treated as closed, the sources said.

A newspaper report had created a sensation last week when it said that two units of Army, one based in Agra in Uttar Pradesh and another in Hissar in Haryana, had moved towards Delhi on the day the Army chief went to the Supreme Court against the government on the issue of his date of birth.

The committee, before which the Vice Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen S K Singh as also top officials of IAF, DRDO and BEML appeared, also examined the status of preparedness of the armed forces.

The panel was told that the process of modernisation and procurements has been expedited and a lot was in the offing in this regard. During its examination of various stake-holders, the committee noted the Army was facing problems with the Ordnance Factory Board in terms of timely delivery of weapons and ammunition and the Air Force had issues with Hindustan Aeronautical Ltd on trainer aircraft and maintenance of its fleet. It is learnt that the Army Vice Chief told the committee that the force was facing a shortage of certain anti-tank munitions - an issue flagged by the Army chief.

In view of these issues, the committee decided to call the chiefs of all the three forces for an "interaction".

Though the committee is looking into budgetary demands of the forces, the interaction with the three chiefs can help it prepare a separate report on defence preparedness which can be submitted to the government with recommendations, a member said.

This is an extraordinary step as in the recent past, the three service chiefs have appeared before the standing committee only once.

Defence preparedness: Three service chiefs to depose before parliamentary panel - The Times of India

I just saw on IBN the Chairman of the standing committee on defence, Mr Naresh Gujral has said that the three service chiefs have been called to meet with them to discuss defence preparedness and they intend to make it a regular affair with the intention to understand the problems the armed forces are facing and also discuss all other defence matters. He also said that the committee will also keep calling on defense experts to get better understanding on defense matters and may be strategic matter I would imagine.

It's a great move and it will help the armed forces to directly talk with the elected representatives and by pass the babus and also create a better understanding between politicians and armed forces considering all that we have seen in the last few days.

Keeping this as a separate thread as this looks to be a great move.

Or rather there could be a armed force liason - in the rank of a Lt.Gen - permanently stationed in the MoD for uninterrupted communication and feedbacks.

Well who knows. It may happen. It's time to overhaul the way defence of the nation is conducted.

The only problem is that will the politicians understand what is defence preparedness?

One have to use Simple English and Hindi there..

This is all hogwash and facing saving measures by swines who do nothing but watch porn in state assemblies and sleep in the parliament.
They knew of everything and did nothing.

CAG also warned of serious gaps in nation’s defence

1962 will be reapeated 10 times over.

India's tank ammunition down to 4 days reserve

India's tank ammunition down to 4 days reserve - The Economic Times

IBN is the ruling govt's mouth piece only for trashing Narendra Modi !

India 'well prepared' in case of war, no shortage of ammunition: Defence Minister AK Antony

India 'well prepared' in case of war, no shortage of ammunition: Defence Minister AK Antony - The Economic Times

As usual same tactics used by congress to divert issues, these bast..ds ruining our country. At least they are expected to show some nationalism when it comes to strategic issues & defense preparedness...All these congi uncles are fit for licking Madam M boots.

i think it is a move in the right direction. such a move will put more pressure on defence ministry and keep them on their toes. i think a half yearly briefing on defenc epreparedness to parliamentaory committee will be a good idea.