The finance minister must consider the viability of announcing independent service capital budgets in an era when the armed forces are undergoing a major transformation with the creation of the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) and theatre commands. Ideally, service allocation should be done by the CDS based on a common threat profile and joint capability requirements of the forces.
With challenges on two fronts, India would have to gradually raise its defence spending to deal with increasing external threats
The total outlay for Defence has been increased to Rs 4,78,195 crore from Rs 4,71,378 crore last year.
Added to this is the increasing pension budget, which is officially not part of the defence budget but considered alongside it by the finance ministry.
In a written reply to MP Sambhaji Chhatrapati in Rajya Sabha, the Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik said that various reforms and steps have been taken to enhance defence exports.
This is the right time for the Chief of Defence Staff to intervene and fight for the modernisation of the armed forces lest we are again caught with our pants down as in 1962. The defence strategists have failed to analyse as to why the Modi government is not giving priority to defence modernisation when a severe threat from our adversaries is lurking. Pakistan's defence budget is about 3.5 per cent of GDP whereas China's is about 4 per cent of GDP. India's budget should at least be about 3 per cent of GDP if not more, notwithstanding the economic slowdown
The nation, apart from allocating funds for national security, must also cater for development, social reforms and upliftment of its population.
Jobs ~ the most urgent problem facing the nation ~ also got much less focus than it deserved. A Finance Ministers job is a tightrope balancing walk and some compromises are necessary, especially so because the budget was presented amidst unmistakable signs of a slowing economy.
Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal, presenting his maiden Budget in Parliament on 1 February, said that for the first time the defence budget has been enhanced beyond Rs 3 lakh crore.
While the recent Rafale controversy raises controversial questions on price and propriety ~ not to speak of the dark hints…
