5.
Transforming indian armed forces
recently the ministry of defence,
govt. Of india has shown some foresight, determination and practical
approach in strengthening, streamlining and upgrading indian armed
forces for the new challenges faced by india in the 21st century.
the golden india foundation suggests the following 14 - point
programme which can transform indian armed forces into the best armed
forces of the world. We should not be content with being third or
fourth in rank as we are the largest democracy in the world.
Therefore, india should have the best armed forces of the world to
defend our borders internally as well as externally.
1.
We should immediately engage the services of a company like sap
or baan which will make computer softwares and hardwares through which
resource management and personnel management of the armed forces will
be computerized including the flow of manpower and material to any
destination which will enable commanders and the defence minister to
operate and instruct the whole system simply from their
lap top. The bar coding and satellite communication systems
will be used in such a way that commanders are able to pinpoint any of
their tanks, planes or supply vehicles and give direct instructions as
to what to do next.
this system was very successfully
used by boeing aircraft company and it reduces their time to
manufacture an aircraft by 25 per cent. Through the system, the
efficiency of the whole armed forces will improve tremendously. (total
cost : Rs. 500 crore).
2.
Interactive cd rom and internet based training programme should
be launched for imparting knowledge and training in 500 different
technical and modern warfare training in 500 different technical and
modern warfare technologies, for example (i) virtual warfare antitank
missiles, (ii) antiaircraft missiles, (iii) shoulder mounted missiles,
(iv) night vision technology, (v) satellite based defence system, (vi)
laser beam technology (vii) ware at high attitude, (viii) anti
submarine and ship warfare, (ix) safeguarding indian forces from
chemical weapons attack etc. Special smart laser guided beam
technology should be developed so that our air force can increase its
efficiency manifold.
at least one million soldiers in
air force, navy and army should be fully trained under this scheme
within 2 yeaRs. (total cost : Rs. 5000 crore).
3.
Special remote sensing should be put in orbit exclusively for
indian armed forces with latest optical laser and infrared technology
which can pinpoint even a singe movement of any soldier, vehicle,
aircraft, submarine, ship around indian bordeRs.
the latest technology exists in
this field and our indian scientists are capable enough to utilize it.
What we need is the political will and swift financial decision (total
cost : Rs. 1000/- crore).
4.
During the hijack of indian airlines flight no. 851, it was the
u.s. intelligence capabilities through which we were able to know
about the telephone conversation between the hijackers and their
bombay agent. Taking a lesson form this incident, we propose that
indian armed forces should have a crystal palace similar to, but much
more advanced than its u.n. counterpart which is situated at west
virginia, u.s.a. our crystal palace will be named as "chanakya
crystal palace". This crystal palace will have the capability
to monitor any telephone call which is mobile based or land-line based
or which is interrupted. It will have a computer which will be
automatically activated and monitor each and every call. This crystal
palace is of utmost urgency keeping in view the unprecedented military
and terrorist threat faced by india now-a-days. (total cost : Rs. 500
crore).
5.
26 officers' training colleges of university level should be
set up in state capitals with the most modern facilities which will
impart the best possible training to cadets in all fields. (total cost
Rs. 500 crore).
6.
Purchasing and setting up of 1,00,000 new latest computers for
our armed forces will enable them to get training in the above
mentioned technologies with the help of newly custom made softwares in
the above mentioned 500 fields. (total cost : Rs. 500 crore)
7.
To build up awareness for participation and cooperation of
civilian population with the armed forces, special armed forces
exhibitions, symposia, conferences should be held regularly at 3000
tehsil headquarteRs. Able armed personnel should be honoured and given
prizes in these functions. This is the most important aspect of the
new policy because money and high-technology weapons alone cannot win
a war as it was amply demonstrated during the vietnam war and also
during the crisis in iran during the shah pahalvi period where iran's
armed forces equipped with most sophisticated american weapons were
defeated by unarmed or very lightly armed followers of khumeni. (total
cost : Rs. 200 crore).
8.
To optimize utilization of our national funds, we suggest total or 100
per cent transparency in all the purchases by armed forces above Rs.
10,000. A new national paper should be started similar to the
paper which is being run by the u.s. government namely 'u.s.
business daily news' about all the purchases and sales. The government
will be able to buy and sell things at a much cheaper price because of
the fair competition which will be generated thought this newspaper
which will be published on the internet also. A reverse auction
programme should also be installed where a purchasing agency will
float the enquiry and all the prospective sellers can openly bid for
it internationally. (total cost : Rs. 5 crore).
9.
All the bureaucratic hurdles and red tapism in the armed forces
should be removed with a view to utilizing and profiting from
unleashing of this new free market policy. (total cost : Rs. Crore)
10.
All the firms and tenders should be readily available on the
internet for any purchase and sale by armed forces.
11.
To get the maximum benefit from the national security council,
its meetings should be held at least once in a month and should be
mandatory.
12.
To bring greater coordination and harmony between the different
ethnical groups in the armed forces, a national harmony council should
be set up which will find and devise ways to bring complete national
ethnical harmony in the armed forces where each segment will
understand and cooperate with the other segment. For instance,
bengalis with punjabis or tamilians. (total cost : Rs. 50 crore).
13.
A national/international panel of experts should be set up to
advise armed forces on how best to implement all the above mentioned
points in the new policy. (total cost : Rs. 50 crore).
14.
Special emphasis should be laid on promoting a sense of
nationalism in our armed forces because this is the only definite
factor which can tilt the balance during a war and decide between
victory and defeat. We should learn lessons in this respect from the
behaviour of american and japanese armed forces during the second
world war which was in sharp contrast to the behaviour of south
vietnam and north vietnam forces.
in addition, we should reserve Rs. 45 crore for other
miscellaneous expenses.
the entire scheme is of utmost national importance, so a
budgetary provision of Rs. 8000/- crore should be made for it for the
next 2 yeaRs.
the basic target of our scheme is to show that, in reality,
indian armed forces are twice the number of u.s. armed forces so our
defence capabilities should supersede those of u.s. as our scientists
and defence personnel are second to none.
6.
Pio cards
the bold initiative taken by ministry of home affairs in
issuing pio cards is apparently praise-worthy. But as per media
reports, the whole purpose of this scheme has been defeated as only a
few persons out of over 20 million nris have applied for it and fewer
pios actually got these cards (copy enclosed).
the
reason for the total failure of this scheme is the high fee of $ 1,000
that the ministry has imposed on issuing of these cards. If and when
these nris come to india, they bring their hard earned foreign
exchange with them and spend it here. What is the loss to our country
? Why does the home ministry have to charge this extraordinary fee of
$ 1,000 from pios? These are some of the questions which need thorough
examination and consideration by the ministry. To make this
scheme popular and derive all the benefits from if, the golden india
foundation is of the view that we should charge only $ 100 for issuing
of these cards. The reduction in the fee will pave the way for a flood
of applications for these cards and the fee thus collected will be
much more than the actual expenditure incurred by the government in
this respect. Our field research has shown that at least 1 million
nris will benefit from this scheme in the first year, thus, in actual
terms the ministry of home affairs will get 10 million dollars in a
year instead of the present 1 million dollaRs.
india has a great potential and can become a major tourist
destination but the bureaucratic hurdle in applying for and obtaining
a visa does not allow our country to benefit from tourist dollaRs.
the golden india foundation is of the view that the ministry of
home affairs should immediately waive visa requirement and give visa
on arrival to the tourist for 90 days from selected countries like
north america, europe and japan.
this single act by the ministry will result in at leat 10
percent increase in the flow of foreign tourists to india. The
government of india will get an additional Rs. 1,000 crore as foreign
exchange (the money these tourists will spend in india). This proposal
has already been forwarded by the ministry of tourism but has been
held up at the ministry of home affairs due to red tapism and
involvement of bureaucracy in the matter. We think the logic given by
them is 'national security' which, in reality, has nothing to do with
it. Even a communist country like china issues tourist visas on
arrival at hong kong airport.
to safeguard our national interest, the foundation is of the
view that an internet infrastructure should be set up at major
international airports and it should be connected with intelligence
agencies and interpol on line, so that even if some one has committed
a crime a few hours ago he can be booked immediately at the airport
while the present system cannot detect them at all as the visas are
issued to them several months in advance.