How Institutions are Destroyed

PLUNDERING OF INSTITUITIONS BY A BLUNDERING GOVERNMENT-NOW THE ARMY: 

January 19th, 2012 | Professionals Party of India

Just when we felt that we had seen it all, the Government in power (PPI likes to call it “Government in office”) decides to prove us wrong. Every Institution so carefully built to protect the citizen and provide good governance is being embarrassed or neutered systematically..CVC, CAG, UPSC, Minorities commission, Election Commission, etal. Rampant corruption, non adherence to well outlined procedures and practices and lack of coherence in decision making have been exacerbated by ‘foot-in-mouth’ disease  of senior Ministers and inability to communicate and connect with the Nation when it was most required.
The saga of age controversy of the Army Chief is perhaps the last straw. There is not a country in the world which could have blundered and prevaricated in the manner that this Government has. All it needed was good communications with the Army Headquarters and decisive action without delay.
The story of this controversy has been discussed adnauseam, thanks to the media. PPI would merely look to focus on the lessons of this episode with the sole objective of underscoring the importance of Good Governance. 
The Army has undoubtedly created a situation which should not have been referred to the Govt in the first instance. The systemic inadequacies and delineation of duties between two principal divisions i.e.MS branch and Adjutant General would have by now been addressed and corrected to avoid such embarrassments in future.
What needs to be addressed is the Civil-Military relation in the Indian Context, which has shown a continuous down slide since Independence. The containment of Service Headquarters by the Ministry of defence, relegating the service headquarters to an attached office status with neither decision making powers nor adequate financial powers, are some of the reasons pointed out by various committees set up by Governments in the past. These recommendations have not been implemented or selectively implemented to maintain status quo.
The Kargil review committee chaired by late Sri K Subrahmanium,a reputed Security analyst, had recommended integrating the Ministry of Defence with the service headquarters so that policy making bodies are a mix of civilian and Military personnel and seamless functioning is facilitated for better planning and deployment of our scarce resources. Had it been implemented in letter and spirit, there would have been no differences between the MOD and the services, since they would have been one entity.
There are some seminal lessons on which the Govt needs to concentrate instead of knocking at the doors of Supreme Court. Do read the Security Manifesto of PPI. You will notice we have underscored institutional remedies, such as integration, many years ago. Don’t you want professionals in Govt. Do not shun politics if you want your children to have a happy life.