AN OPEN LETTER TO WOULD BE COAS - DECLINING MORALITIES OF ARMY AND INSTITUTIONALIZED CORRUPTION

    THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE BY COL.RAJINDER SINGH (RETD) IS POSTED FOR THE BENEFIT OF INFORMATION OF ALL:-
=======================================
Dear All,
Here is my article for all of you to read and think about it.
Regards......    Rajee (Col Rajinder Singh)
Mob: 098154-75982.
=======================================
AN OPEN LETTER TO WOULD BE CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF ON DECLINING
MORALITIES OF ARMY AND INSTITUTIONALIZED CORRUPTION

       Sukhna Land scam is the high-water mark of the degree of corruption that has engulfed the army. There is no escape from total over-haul if the future Chief of army staff wants to rid army of corruption. And , in so doing, the cleansing operations have to begin from higher ranks and higher echelons. It is truism that no subordinate can resort to corruption unless the boss is himself corrupt. We hear of cases in the civil way of life where regular shares of 'hush- money' are distributed from top to bottom. Similarly, corruption has been institutionalized in the army. It is sad but true that Generals of the Indian army now-a-days face court martial and disciplinary action as never before. (Sukhna Land is not the only one. Refer para 10 where the author had dug out even bigger scam at Amritsar. I do not know about the contours of Sukhna but I understand that it is all about issuing of NOC and not sale of the land- which is the job of some one else. If NOC was not ok-it could have been cancelled at the next stage)

2.  'Tehlka- expose' provided a glimpse of the rut that had set in the army. But no corrective actions could be taken. How could it be possible when those who have to take action are themselves not worthy of holding such high ranks? The corruption in the higher ranks is deep and all pervasive. And every time a case is highlighted, there is an attempt to sweep the case under the carpet by allowing GENERALS to retire. (Corruption in the armed forces is on minuscule scale as compared to outside. Only few and far between generals are embroiled in such things which get blown out of proportion and hyped out).

In the case of SUKHNA LAND SCAM, the Eastern Army Commander has recommended a strong action against the accused officers. But it seems the army headquarters was dithering on the reasons best known to present chief of army staff. It is this tendency to dither and sweep such cases under the carpet that honesty has become a rare virtue in the army. (The last word should be that of the COAS and not GOC-in-C's or for that matter any one else. Why others are trying to influence it by pressurizing the COAS? It has to be military justice doing and appearing to do justice and not some Kangaroo court to fix some one to clean the system or to settle some personal score)

3.   Some years back a Director General of Ordnance Services (DGOS) at Army HQ was accused of unfair practices in allocating ordnance contracts but he was allowed to retire quietly without any major action. Some time back, two Lieutenant Generals were easily let off for their doubtful roles in procuring rations supply for the army. Even our present COAS, General Deepak Kapoor was accused in 2007 by none other than his successor in Northern Command, Lieutenant General H S Panag, of doubtful conduct. Instead of being transparent and investigating the case, defence ministry had transferred Panag from Northern Command to inactive Central Command. It is this kind of sheltering at the highest level which has institutionalized corruption in the army. (If his conduct was doubtful –why the almighty MoD promote him in the first place? Why should we the retired servicemen try to show the Serving Chief of our Army which is the fourth largest army of the world? Have we any personal grouse against the leader of leaders?)

4.  The result of this institutionalized corruption is that people scratch each other's back and thus are protected and sheltered. As a result of this, corruption in the army goes on unabated and keeps spreading its fangs unchecked. We have different models of corruption from 'ketch-Up Colonels' to 'Booze Brigadiers' through "Chicken Generals'. It is because of this that a Major General has no moral compulsion to stop him from disposing off truck loads of liquor. The fact is most of the higher ranks in the army today are swamped by tainted Generals and Brigadiers. If there are some exceptions, they just confirm this rule. (A very sweeping statement indeed- indicting every one for the sins of a few? Surely Army lead by tainted generals & brigadiers cannot fight wily enemies so effectively for so long & hold the nation together amidst caste, region & language divides where thousands of Kodas have deeply mined our country. Please rethink & you will find excellence of leadership. In the recent past admirable Admiral Sureesh Mehta had stood up like bulwark against all odds. Yes but we are talking about corruption.)

5.   The system of growth and promotion in the army has become such a rule that it follows a principle: IF YOU DO NOT TOE THE LINE, YOU ARE NOT GOING TO SHINE. The result is that those who dare to stand up against corruption are just shunned and shunted. Perhaps, Lt. General Panag would have been better qualified to explain this but he has been silenced by the Defence Ministry by appointing him as a member of Army Tribunal for the Northern region -with the pay and perks of a High Court Judge. Of course, army would have recommended his name- a price for his silence. (Who is to be blamed –MoD or the Army HQ?)

6.   Have you people heard of Gresham's Law of Economics? It states unless managers of money keep a tight leash over it, BAD MONEY DOES DRIVE OUT THE GOOD MONEY. And result is the black money which controls the money market and makes a great impact over a nation's economy. Apply this law to an hierarchical organization like army and you would notice that slowly and steadily, BAD MANAGERS COULD DRIVE OUT GOOD MANAGERS. The question arises if it has happened in the case of Indian army? I don't know; I can not say. I can only recount some history to trace the down slide.
(Old timers would have seen silver one rupee coin which contained precious metal worth its value. Gresham's law applies to debasement of values. It cannot be applied in isolation to the armed forces. Yes we need to be much more vigilant in this regard.You have to bring in change in mind set all over.)

7.   Military Engineering Services (MES), Defence Estate Department Military Diary Farms, Army supply corps (ASC), Army ordnance Corps (AOC) and Medical services have become notorious today for rampant corruption in them, whether it is award of contracts for construction or fresh rations or even local purchases of vehicular parts or medicines. Young officers learn wrong things in these arms and services and the vicious circle gets expanded. The corruption is so institutionalized that honest shares float up and down the chain of command and one can not catch anyone. The rules are bent very cleverly and intelligently. In most cases office of CDA (Central Defence Accounts) are actively cooperating in this. (I will vouch for the best medical services we get mostly driven by very dedicated & committed medicos in uniform. I have seldom seen any military building collapsing due to less cement being used.Yes there are flaws in the csystem which need to be corrected - like trying get meat at Rs 50/- a kg when the market rate be Rs 200/-)

8.   Army HQ is no less. Procurement of arms and equipment from foreign countries is already under question. One can quote `Bofors case' or `Kargil Coffins' case. Almost all directorates at Army HQ deal in procurements of procurements and thus junior officers do get lured if senior officer was corrupt. Tehlka had highlighted this. It is rumored that MS branch has become notorious for granting return favors in lieu of cash and kind services provided by vested officers. It is alleged that foreign postings, transfers, promotions and prestigious courses all carry a rate. The case of Lieutenant General PK Rath, erstwhile corps Commander atSukhna, provides a curious testimony to this. (We are exposing our underbelly unnecessarily too much. I know for sure that if any one brings in external pressure to get even a favorable posting –he becomes a marked man for ever. One cannot get into staff college course, lgsc or ptsc unless one qualifies & then do well in the institutions?)

9.    You find officers who did not even have a single house suddenly becoming owners of palatial houses after becoming a Brigadier or Major Generals. I am afraid most of the retired senior officers must share the blame because they too had indulged in such practices whether they were brigadiers, divisional, corps or army commanders or even as Chief. Some of them suddenly became owners of the property they could not have dreamt as young officers. As Col Q works at a Command HQ, I know the case of a Vice Chief in 95-97 who begged director Lands, an IAS officer or a favor to retain his official accommodation beyond 90 days. Mercifully she only partially granted him the favor and mocked at him when he left her office. ( Pay in our times of sixties was Rs 400 for 2Lt. With that type of pay one could think of house building only after when salary became comfortable. We started with a bicycle and got scooter costing Rs 3000/- after 3-4 years service.Now times have changed with soft loans for motor vehicle & housing. Good houses can be built with honest money too & only such house can make homes)

10.   As Colonel Administration of an infantry division, I had dug out a land scam case at Amritsar. It involved 5000 acres of land. It was a much bigger scandal than the SUKHNA Lake. It was so institutionalized that land was divided between Units and formations for cultivation. No one was supposed to give this land on CONTRACT for Cultivation. They were supposed to cultivate with troop labor and deposit 25% of the income in government treasury. But all of them flouted government rules for years. Land used to be contracted to civilians and a board of officers was detailed to prepare fake proceedings to legalize as unit troop labor. These board proceedings, invariably used to be zero sum game for income and expenditure , while rate of contract used to be anything between Rs 3000/acre to 5000/acre per annum. The land allotted to units and formation by Division HQ varied between 100 to 200 acres. The court of Inquiry had raised pointing fingers towards many senior officers of the formation but ultimately the hammer fell only on CO ASC officer while other got scot free. Point, I wish to make, is this is how army covers up its senior officers. I, of course, came into bad books and had to pay the price of a sealed career, despite promises of a competitive performance. No regret though, when I look at two of my very friends now involved in the Sukhna Land scam. Least I can say that i did not expect them to be involved in this. But time and environments do take its toll and this is what might have happened to these two friends.

11.   I saw the war as a very young officer. I have seen a bundle of lies being converted into heroic deeds. In fact, 1971 war must be seen as a start point in the down-slide of Indian army's professionalism (Read `Top Brass by Brig HS Sodhi). And I can confidently say it was the starting point of `Ornamental Commanders' who later multiplied in a geometrical progression and today rule the roost in the Indian army.

12.   1971 war introduced an era of `Ornamental Commanders' in the Indian Army, first as a trickle through seventies then came a deluge in the late eighties and early nineties when militancy broke out in Punjab and J&K. Glamorized uniforms with flashy accoutrements and bawdy attachments became the order of the day. Host of gallantry awards were created to satisfy the hunger of all and sundry. Not only this, awards for the units were also devised. Thus decorated persons in the army began to multiply. Militancy in Punjab and J&K during this period proved a boon for the aspirants of gallantry awards. `Ornamental Commanders' thus appeared on the scene. (Let us not grudge small harmless medals. Before 65 war our chest used be all blank. Officers & men did lay down their lives to earn PVC's)

13.   Their ethos and value system left much to be desired. By the year 1999, they had fully taken control of the Indian army. Its manifestations are Kargil-99, `Tehleka-Exposures', `Ketch-Up Colonel', `Booze Brigadier' and `Fake Siachen Encounters'. It was in the wake of tall claims of false victories in 1971 war that the trend had begun and such officers became instant heroes. Most of these officers became `Generals' in later years. Slowly and steadily, their clan multiplied and by mid-eighties they were holding the key appointments in the army. I saw some of them as a young officer and faced them. They were self-centered, morally-bankrupt and professionally incompetent officers. (The promotion to higher ranks have the stamp of approval of the MoD too. By and large our selection and promotion process has been much better than available on the other side.)

14.   It is truism the dead do not speak but it is equally true of those who get killed or injured during unrecognized military ventures launched by their ambitious superiors that their records also do not speak. And 1971 war led to the emergence of an officer corps who was infatuated to personal glory, higher status and unlimited personal comforts at the cost of butchered soldiers. It is their glamour world which matters. (please forget about famous quote of General Chetwood, displayed in the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun. world belying the statement)

15.   Today, the very first day a young officer joins the unit after training at IMA, all military ethos and moralities get knocked out when he sees every thing happening in a opposite way . This downslide began in the backdrop of 1971. These are the kind of officers who rise and become Generals in the army. This is the class of people who are the architects of Kargil-99. Till Kargil happened, Major General VS Budhwar and Brigadier Surinder Singh were the brightest sparks of the army, with both having foreign posting stints under their belts? Both were computer selected to carry out the toughest jobs. But while these two came under the scanner and became object of ridicule by the media, there were multitudes of people like them who got away. (When a young Lt joins the unit, he should be feeling elated for being amongst the best soldiers any where in the world. He should be learning his profession of soldiering rather than getting disheartened by the small comforts his superiors get)

16.   There is a race for gallantry awards in the army, both by hook and crook. And they are awarded liberally. It is a clever ploy by units and formations to hide their misdeeds and shortcomings. It keeps the potential whistle blowers happy and amused, while Commanders have a rollicking time in merry-making and money-making. Behind the razzle-dazzle of most of the decorated chests, today lies the story of fiction unimagined. The craze for them has been institutionalized by the army in her daily situation reports (called SIT REPPS) in the valley. One has to glance through one of the SIT REP to understand the theme. Army HQ has further strengthened the initiation of malpractice for gallantry awards by seeking proof of valor in the form of media reports, SIT REPS and video clips being attached with the citations. Most of the citations for the awards are exaggerated facts transformed into fictionalized truth.
(Making mountains of molehills are causing immense damage to the image of the armed forces who have been giving so much for so little to so many of us.Painting an entire canvass with black brush while it is in blood of the valiant is not inrder).

17.   Most often, genuine cases are overshadowed by fictional acts of gallantry. May be 5-10 percent cases are genuine but one can not distinguish as the dividing lines have blurred beyond recognition. Thus, army is churning out fake heroes, day in and day out. Awards are also gateway pass to higher ranks. It is these sorts of `Heroes' who rapidly rise the ladder of hierarchy in the army. Consequently, higher ranks today are swarming with `Ornamental Commanders'. Today,they crowd the top echelons of the army. `As one sows, so one shall reap', goes the saying. And reap we do in the form of `spineless wonders', who crawl when asked to bend by unethical bosses. The Governments of the day are party to such a rut in the army. During Kargil-99 and Mumbai 26/11 Gallantry awards were distributed as if one is distributing sweets. (Nothing can be made fool proof. At least we have to apply Normal distribution for exceptions. Let us not belittle our maimed & departed soldiers/officers who got the bravery awards by such insinuations)

18.   In December 1971, I was with my battalion in Tangdhar sector (Near Chowkiwal) of North Kashmir. Our brigade had four battalions, three deployed in Tithwal-Tangdhar bowl and fourth in Nowgam Sector. If one considers the gains made in this sector in 1971 vis-à-vis the losses in terms of trained manpower and liabilities heaved upon the nation, one will find disgraceful and intolerable conduct had been fictionalized into a saga of glory and fame. By all accounts, it was a negative venture. I can write another book on the personal conduct of these officers but military ethics prohibit me from doing so. I will only draw attention to those deplorable facts which helped them climb the hierarchal ladder. The brigade commander was an officer from the corps of Engineers. He later retired as Quarter Master General (QMG) of the Indian Army. I had the opportunity to serve under him again in Tenga Valley (Arunachal Pradesh), where he commanded a mountain division. It was a sad thing to see him in that rank, after all the fiasco he created as a brigade commander, both during and after the war. During 1971 war, his formation launched three aimless and purposeless battalion sized attacks in the Lipa Valley of `Azad Kashmir'. (What is left out after inflicting so much self- damage?)

19.   One can say today, after having matured in matters military in over three and half decades that the only purpose of these ventures was to seek glory and self-projection of the commanders. In no way, the territorial gains, made after senseless loss of lives of soldiers, contributed towards the local, regional and national objectives. The causalities suffered by the Infantry battalions were not commensurate with the gains made. But he had four most ambitious battalion commanders who were prepared to get their men slaughtered on ill-conceived, ill- planned and ill-executed military operations. Having dealt with this at length, I now advise the future Chief, whether it is VK SINGH or PC BHARDWAJ, both known very well, that you have to come down heavily on this institutionalized corruption in the army. In fact this should be the priority of the chief. One can understand the privileges of the rank and service but one can not allow commercialization of the army for personal benefits. We all know, the roots corruption are deep and only blind will not see its poisonous fangs. This has to be dealt with at a war footing and some harsh decision will have to be taken. If need be honesty profile of senior officers be done by an independent agency and tainted Brigadiers/generals be packed home. The army will not be able to maintain its professional élan unless corruption from higher ranks is rooted out. Army would be like any other government agency---incompetent, ineffective and incapable of measuring up to the task. Once top order is cleaned, lower order will automatically be rid of corrupt persons.
==============================================
COMMENTS


The author of this well researched open letter has written beautifully on corruption which has been gnawing at our vitals much like cancer. But unknowingly much collateral damage has been caused to the great institution of the armed forces which thankfully could keep it at bay to an extent.I have made some comments based my own limited experience/perceptions ( in bold red) on themes( in bold italic blue) in the open letter.These are my personal views & I may be wrong in not having understood the spirit of the letter correctly. I very much value the rights of any one to differ to improve the things as the learned author of this letter has tried to do.

Air Cmde Raghubir Singh (Retd),
Pune, 09890529860
==========================
Dear Colleagues


Having spent 33 very fruitful and fulfilling years in the Army, I feel empty after reading this mail. I have come across such officers but their number is miniscule. We were 20 odd COs in an infantry division, all open to 14000 soldiers. I recall only one CO who probably fits in the scenario as he escaped and became a Major General. My technical boss at the Corps HQ, who fitted in absolutely was courtmartialled and sentenced severely. The latter also took some innocents along, one of whom was so honest that you could not find office stationery in his home but he signed some routine supply orders which got him in

I am now 7 years in retirement. I do not think rot is as deep as the long blog says. Yes, it is getting worse and it needs to be arrested. And I think it will get arrested by the internet era not by this or that COAS. They are products of the same system. There is no place left to hide now.  If you think IAS etc are better, think again. If you think Corporate world is better, think Raju of Satyam. Every family owned business is a potential Raju Story

Indian Armed Forces continue to be on the top of honesty charts in the public mind. I hope it continues

Best Regards
Brig (Retd) KS Bhoon
==========================
Reproduced here are excerpts from a US blog: JOURNAL: Ultimate Griefing in a Lottery Economy.

Please read on:- "There's a widespread belief that we live in a lottery economy. A place where the outcomes from gambling determine your future -- where random luck and an ability to cheat skillfully (as in card sharking or loaded dice) is more important to your success than anything else (hard work, skill, intelligence, training, education, etc.). This shift in belief has even been embraced as social policy: nearly every US state now uses gambling as a means of boosting revenues, leading to a degenerative trends in spending...........

This leads me to think that the ultimate information age griefing attack (within gaming, this is an attack meant to disrupt the ability of the target to live within a gaming/fantasy world) in a lottery economy is to publish the names, social security numbers, phone numbers, addresses, banks account #s, memberships, e-mail addresses, etc. of people that have a net worth over say $5 million. Since this is merely information, a text file of this data wouldn't be impossible to accumulate (very tough, but not impossible to accumulate) and relatively easy to distribute. The result would be that anyone of a certain net worth would immediately be visible to the plethora of sharks that don't believe they deserve their wealth. My guess is that the frenzy would be pretty horrible to watch."

Surprisingly, I find much in commonality of what is mentioned herein and amongst and what is being splashed in the media. Others not yet mentioned-in-despatches may be lucky so far, but confirm to the widespread belief that they wouldn't get to where they are, unless they are a part of the "syndicate" !

Regards / Anil Heble
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

(SOURCE ; THRO' E-MAIL)