Instead of raking up the matter in political public rallies, the matter needs to be debated in very informed manner in parliament and thence if necessary subjected to rigorous scrutiny by select parliamentary committee to vindicate transparency and assure accountability in the deal . In the interim , statutory audit should be carried out by C&A.G.to facilitate select committee of parliamentarians to carry out their constitutional mandate . This is only the beginning ,the problem will start once contract period kicks off. Contract management has been the weakest link in the MO.D..armory and the present contract with 50%set- off clause ( made in India component ) with a tight time schedule is bound to go hay wire , considering the state of preparedness of private Indian collaborators and the requirement of very high precision components matching Rafale’s own specifications. This is not a point of debate for uninformed, inadequately informed public ,but a matter to be seized by auditors of G.O.I. in close and protracted consultation s with aeronautical engineers of national standing .Only with the financial and physical closure of the project Indian informed public will be wise with the final cost of a Rafael jet fighter . One needs to study the fine prints of contract and state of final deliveries from collaborative manufacture , factoring in time and cost overruns to get a fair appreciation of the deal.
Very true. Instead of keeping away from the public gaze there is absolute need for making everything about defence as transparent as possible. It is unjust and undemocratic to keep the defence deals shroudedin mystery in the garb of national interest. The author with his rich experience in Defence finance is the right to bell the cat
Instead of raking up the matter in political public rallies, the matter needs to be debated in very informed manner in parliament and thence if necessary subjected to rigorous scrutiny by select parliamentary committee to vindicate transparency and assure accountability in the deal . In the interim , statutory audit should be carried out by C&A.G.to facilitate select committee of parliamentarians to carry out their constitutional mandate . This is only the beginning ,the problem will start once contract period kicks off. Contract management has been the weakest link in the MO.D..armory and the present contract with 50%set- off clause ( made in India component ) with a tight time schedule is bound to go hay wire , considering the state of preparedness of private Indian collaborators and the requirement of very high precision components matching Rafale’s own specifications. This is not a point of debate for uninformed, inadequately informed public ,but a matter to be seized by auditors of G.O.I. in close and protracted consultation s with aeronautical engineers of national standing .Only with the financial and physical closure of the project Indian informed public will be wise with the final cost of a Rafael jet fighter . One needs to study the fine prints of contract and state of final deliveries from collaborative manufacture , factoring in time and cost overruns to get a fair appreciation of the deal.
Very true. Instead of keeping away from the public gaze there is absolute need for making everything about defence as transparent as possible. It is unjust and undemocratic to keep the defence deals shroudedin mystery in the garb of national interest. The author with his rich experience in Defence finance is the right to bell the cat