Adarsh Scam and what It entails to the Armed Forces.
The widely publicised and debated allotment of land to the Adarsh Housing Society and the subsequent selection of members for uniformed senior Armed Forces officers, Civilian officers of the Military Estates Department and other civilians has tarnished the image of the Army in general and senior officers of the Army and Navy in particular. While an inquiry has been ordered both by the Army and by the Government, there has been a wide on-going coverage by the media speculating on various aspects of the conduct of the officers cadre.
The present Chief of the Army Staff while declaring his intention to take strict action on those found guilty has also expressed his anguish on the growing five-star culture prevalent in the Armed Forces Circles today.
The British when they positioned their cantonments to house the Armed Forces deliberately ensured that these settlements are far removed from civilian areas with an avowed purpose of insulating the personnel from the civilian public. Even a couple of decades ago, it was not possible to get a taxi or an auto from the Railway stations to the cantonment areas since the drivers were not assured of a return passenger. With the expansion of cities and towns, most of the cantonments have now become more or less city centres with vast well maintained areas with greenery to cater for the physical and military training requirements of the soldiers. So the land around and in the cantonments have become lucrative targets for real estate developers who wield a lot of political clout and connivance.
The military lands are owned by the Military Estates Department who are not in the chain of command and control of the Integrated Headquarters of the Ministry of Defence at New Delhi or the local Commanders. But the upkeep and security of the Army estate however vests with local commanders. It can therefore be seen that while the owner and custodian is the Military Estates Directorate under Ministry of Defence, the care taker is the Armed Forces. In other words, the authority of Armed Forces is just like that of a “Chowkidar”. However, in case any portion of the land belonging to the Military Estates is requisitioned by the Civilian Government of the States where it is situated or by the Centre, the only action needed by the Armed Forces authority is to express its opinion whether such transfer would affect the safety and security of the installations and the personnel. This in general term is the so called “Security Clearance”.
Earlier the State governments/ other Departments were in the habit of allocating equal acreage of land as per their choice when lands under Military Estates were acquired by them. They would palm off lands which were generally located far away , having much lower or negligible commercial value in barter. The Ministry of Defence has now woken up to this issue and started to claim land of equal value and not equal area. Over a period of last four decades, the Military Estates Directorate has transferred highly lucrative land in prime locations in major metros like Pune, Secunderabad, Bangalore, New Delhi, Delhi Cantonment to name a few. Past records of the last three decades of such transfers would be truly revealing as to how the Ministry of Defence has been taken for ride by political pressure and by their own bureaucrats and not by the Armed Forces Officers.
Earlier the State governments/ other Departments were in the habit of allocating equal acreage of land as per their choice when lands under Military Estates were acquired by them. They would palm off lands which were generally located far away , having much lower or negligible commercial value in barter. The Ministry of Defence has now woken up to this issue and started to claim land of equal value and not equal area. Over a period of last four decades, the Military Estates Directorate has transferred highly lucrative land in prime locations in major metros like Pune, Secunderabad, Bangalore, New Delhi, Delhi Cantonment to name a few. Past records of the last three decades of such transfers would be truly revealing as to how the Ministry of Defence has been taken for ride by political pressure and by their own bureaucrats and not by the Armed Forces Officers.
One of the news item reported that Army is holding as much as seven times the area of Delhi, at an average cost of Rs3000 per Square Yard and arrived at an astounding figure of the total cost. Military Estates Directorate definitely holds a large area. But more than 90 to 95 percent of these areas are meant for Artillery , Missile, Air Force and Naval firing Ranges and Armoured Vehicles ( Tanks) training areas, Rifle and Machine Gun firing ranges. These are mostly in wilderness in places like Pokran, Babina, Gobalpur to name a few. It is astonishing how some one has arrived at an average cost of Rs.3000/ sq. yard. Similarly Air Force has a large number of airfields which occupy vast acreage in many stations. Can any one calculate the average cost of such lands?
For their own welfare housing schemes, the Army, Navy and AirForce buy lands from the Civil Society at market rates making their welfare housing affordable not for many. Statistics would prove that not even one percent of the Armed Forces Personnel serving and retired have bought or buying flats/ houses from their own welfare organizations as they could ill afford the cost of acquisition. Neither the State Governments nor the Central Government takes a sympathetic view of their own armed forces personnel and allot land at a reasonable and affordable rate for their housing while they acquire the military lands at more or less throwaway prices.
Now coming to the instant case of “Adarsh” episode, it was very obnoxious on the part of the promoters to invoke the name of Kargil martyrs and heros to justify the requirement of land. They could have said “ Well we have been the Chiefs of Army Staff or the Area Commander or the Naval Commander of Western Fleet or what ever and we deserve a residence in upmarket area in Mumbai for having served the country with distinction. While we can not afford to buy it at market rate , give us a concession to make it affordable”. That they failed to do so clearly demonstrates their moral weakness and greed. Common sense dictates that no Kargil Martyr's family or Kargil Hero can afford a flat costing around a crore of rupees unless he/she has enormous inherited property or an ongoing business or a highly paying job in Mumbai. The pension or the family pension and the interest on savings all put together cannot meet even the maintenance cost of the flat in Mumbai. It is most likely that the senior officers fell for a trap laid by the civilian officers of the Military Estates and bureaucrats wittingly or unwittingly.
It is demoralising for the Armed Forces personnel that these officers who had risen to highest level in the hierarchy had not demonstrated the “officer like quality” which they must have talked about a thousand times in their lectures to their subordinates during their service. You may be pretty sure all of them would have got 9.9 out of ten in all qualities like “Integrity, Loyalty, Devotion to Duty, Moral Courage” etc. throughout their service as otherwise they could not have climbed up the ladder up to this level.
This brings into the question of the 'Five Star Culture” the present Chief of Army Staff talked about. In the past, though Armed Forces Officers were/ are poorly paid as compared to their counterparts, they exhibited the kind of dignity and poise which was very hard to emulate by others. Their environ, though simple were neat,tidy ; their demeanor though flamboyant was straightforward. They would shun publicity and exposure. With the explosion in print and visual media, there started a clamour to hog the limelight. The slide started after Op Blue Star. The Chief of Army Staff hobnobbing with politicians and highlighting achievements in TV news channels .set the trend. There is no doubt that “Kargil” brought the war scenario to the individual household and was very much appreciated. But a senior officer of the rank of a Brigadier carrying a toddler rescued from a bore well shaft is outright silly. There is also another breed of the above kind clamouring to appear along side P3Ps in local tabloids with sickening regularity .
The Army Mess functions which was mainly meant for interacting with junior officers informally has started to assume the colour and tenor of a rich Punjabi wedding. Units and Formations started vying with each other to put up a better show so much so that it has become only a show. Now a days, everything from catering , to decoration , to entertainment are out sourced. The Chefs ( Army calls them Cook Special) who used to be masters in creating wonderful dishes for such special functions have almost forgotten their skills. The bands which used to belt out classical and jazz music are reduced to playing bollywood film music. Interior economy which was one of the areas which any visiting/ inspecting officers would keenly look into, has been given a go by. There is definitely an improvement in the quality and standard of living of personnel compared to what it was even ten years ago. But the quality of life is taking a dip. It is therefore an immediate necessity to arrest this trend.
Another major impact of the “Adarsh episode” is likely to be the response of the Central and State Governments for viewing the genuine demands by the Armed Forces in the future with a jaundiced eye. The Defence Minister has already ruled that “Equal Rank Equal Pension” as impracticable. This is when we have a Spectrum scam costing the nation a Himalayan amount of revenue running to lakhs of crores of rupees. Where the demands are genuine and justified, the Armed Forces Chiefs must put up these cases coherently and effectively irrespective of "Adarsh" back lash.. “Adarsh” should not make them defensive in their dealings with the bureaucrats. Let us hope that “Adarsh episode” becomes a watershed in the Armed Forces dealings with civilian bureaucrats and politicians in general and with the Military Estates Officers in particular.
