Binoo Joshi
JK NEWS TODAY Special Commentary
Jammu, June 11:
The corporatization of the ordnance factories will be a real revolution in the quality production of the defence material . This has to be looked not only as change in the manufacturing of arms and ammunition in a certain way , but also that how it would enhance our defence mechanism in the times of global competition .Quality and quantity would go hand in hand when this change takes ground after the May 16 announcement by the government- It is just a fulfillment of a commitment that the Modi government had made to fulfill in the beginning of his second term in May last year .This has complete transparency as it is not something that the government has done overnight without having placed the issue in the public domain.
All would agree that the strategic assets of India have undergone a sea change and so have the needs to keep them intact. Widely these assets are viewed as defence of the boundaries . The latest stand-offs in Ladakh and other parts of the country with Chinese troops besides the overarching threat of Pakistan increasing its hostile activities on the borders, particularly, the Line of Control , where cross border firing and the infiltration attempts are on rise , have reinforced the point of keeping boundaries safe forever more than ever before.
So far, the 200 odd ordnance factories spread across the country had been producing arms and ammunition and other related material They had done a good job , but the nature of the global threats demand that India should be fully prepared in the defence equipment production to counter the threats that emanate from sea, land and air . The times have changed , and so have the challenges .
India has been importing arms from the US, Russia, France and few other countries and spending billions of dollars every year to keep it updated with its defence needs. That inflicted a huge burden on the foreign exchange and raised several national security concerns . The US and other countries were selling the same equipment to Pakistan .
Now the indigenous production will enhance . The FDI of 74 per cent will keep the money flowing into this critical sector that will have its checks and balance readymade with Ordnance Factories Board . The fears on this basis are groundless.
The positive sides must be weighed in while keeping the national security and its requirements in consideration . It is clear that the threats are multiplying and there is an urgent need to have the world class arms for the army – this will serve as deterrence to the enemy in clash-mode situations that happen in a number of times on LoC in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere on the borders with Pakistan . More than infiltration and cross-LoC firing that has been happening for the past more than 30 years, what cannot be forgotten is that India and Pakistan armies were face to face several times . It has happened several times during wars and border skirmishes .
Sophisticated weaponry also saves lives . The lives of soldiers are precious , and those, in any case, should not be lost , because of some odd reservations of sections of people. The saving of lives of soldiers is more important than saluting the martyrdom.
The pool of funds would be available to all ordnance factories , the natural outcome of that would be production of better quality arms. The army will feel more confident with the better equipment . Apart from that what is more important is that better funding and better control as is the norm in the corporate world , there would not only be enhanced access to technology and its use , this will save India a large amount of the import bill on the defence material.
