Urban Mirror Correspondent
New Delhi, May 29: With the NDA government plan for military purchases of Rs 6900 crore for hardware and other equipment, the Lok Gathbandhan Party (LGP) today demanded that there should be full transparency in these purchases. The Party said in view of past records, there was urgent need to improve transparency in defence equipment purchases in the country. The party said as India buys more new equipment, capital expenditure is rising. Therefore transparency in all transactions is of utmost significant. The defence acquisition council has cleared the proposal for Rs 6900 crore purchases.
The spokesman of the party said here on Tuesday that India has now emerged as top five defence spenders. The spokesman said under the prevailing border security scenario the country required modernisation of its armed forces which would lead to increase in capital expenditure in this field. However the spokesman said given the past experiences in defence deals which were mired in rampant corruption, there is need to maintain honesty and transparency in all purchases. The LGP once again reiterated its demand for investigation into controversial purchase of 36 Rafale fighter aircrafts from the French company Dassault Aviation at a higher cost. The spokesman said the way deal has been done by the NDA government it smacks of fishy negotiations aimed at financially helping a corporate house.
With rising Indian demands, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has placed the country behind the US, China, Saudi Arabia and Russia in terms of defence spending. The spokesman said India’s defence expenditure last year was about $63.9 billion, which in view of increasing requirements will go up in future. Since India faces shortage of combat aircraft the previous UPA government had entered into an agreement with the French company for the purchase of Rafale aircraft. However the NDA government has changed the terms and conditions of agreement which has put additional burden on India’s strained state exchequer. It is for this reason, the spokesman said there is need for honest and transparent purchases. The spokesman said with rising demand of defence equipment world over, the wheeler-dealers are roaming around with bag full of money to strike the deal with the government. The spokesman said the people should also be vigilant on this front so that country’s financial resources could not be wasted.
