Against the backdrop of recent submarine mishap, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday suggested that the Defence Ministry is not spending the funds "wisely" enough and contended the maintenance of the military assets was being neglected.
He insisted that the Finance Ministry provides "a lot of money" to the Defence Ministry and "I sincerely hope that the defence forces will learn a lesson and make sure that the money allotted to them is spent more wisely and more efficiently on essential matters."
Chidambaram was responding when questioned by an NSUI member claiming to be sister of one of victims over the provision of sufficient funds to the Defence Ministry.
At a function organised by Congress' student wing NSUI, the woman said Lt Commander Kapish Muwal, who died in the mishap on INS Sindhuratna, was her brother and asked Chidambaram "why the government is not sanctioning money for security and safety" as casualties are taking place. She also referred to the sinking of another submarine INS Sindhurakshak a few months back and said the armed forces are going for refits as they shortage of finances.
Rejecting the view that adequate finances are not provided for the armed forces, Chidambaram said, "As far as defence expenditure is concerned, I think it is not correct to say that enough money is not being provided. There is no such thing as 'enough'." Chidambaram noted that this time the Finance Ministry has allocated Rs 2.25 lakh crore for the defence, which is a "lot of money". "...for defence, believe me, we have provided the maximum amount that we can," he insisted.
Chidambaram argued that the government's requirements are large and the Finance Ministry requires money for various departments and purpose "We do our very best to allocate as much as we can. The Rs 2.25 lakh crore is allotted to defence. How it is spend? Should it be spent on maintenance, should it be spend on acquiring new equipment, should it be spent on Air Force, Navy and Army, training, raising a new batallion, these are questions which are decided by very senior officers of Army, Navy and Air Force," he said.
Talking about the fire and smoke incident involving INS Sindhuratna, in which two officers died last week, the Finance Minister said, "I am sincerely sorry and I say this with responsibility." He said that "at some point of time the maintenance of the submarine appears to have been neglected. Only an inquiry will prove the fact, but what reports I have read, it appears to be neglected. There seemed to be some problem with the batteries that led to the fire and precious lives were lost."
While Chidambaram insisted that "a lot of money" is provided to the forces, Defence Ministry sources said the Finance Ministry this fiscal cut more than Rs 7,800 crore from its budgetary allocation meant for modernisation.
Last year as well, defence ministry had faced a budget cut of more than Rs 10,000 crore in view of the economic slowdown in the country. Moreover, the Finance Ministry did not accept Defence Ministry's demand for Rs 40,000 crore in addition to the budgetary allocation this year.
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