Modi govt means business, there is great deal of accountability: Air chief
BY Pinaki Bhattacharya5 Oct 2014 11:19 PM GMT
Pinaki Bhattacharya5 Oct 2014 11:19 PM GMT
But what is considered a departure from the practices of his predecessors, he took sides in the political comparison between the erstwhile UPA II government and incumbent NDA II administration.
When asked whether he considered the Modi government being faster in decision-making and implementation than Manmohan Singh, he said: ‘This government means business. We (the chiefs) meet the defence minister every month. There is a greater degree of accountability of the bureaucracy. Every measure is being taken to increase the pace of action.’
He acknowledged that the IAF had a large number of ‘legacy aircrafts,’ which lead to problems in procurement and availability of spares, and thus lead to ‘cannibalisation’ some of the mothballed aircrafts. ‘We would like to have more spares in our possession at the maintenance divisions, because it takes a long time to get the components.’
ACM Raha called the IAF’s relationship with the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) as being of ‘conjoined twins’. ‘We are working together with the view that operational requirements of IAF is met in quickest time,’ he said.
He supported the recent decision of the defence ministry to acquire helicopters – both attack and light utility – from indigenous sources. Raha said: ‘I do not think that the indigenously built helicopters will take very long (to be built).’
The CAS also revealed that with the controversial Agusta Westland AW101 VVIP transport helicopters are not flying anymore. And he indicated that the Mi-17V5s will fly as VVIP transport.
Talking about having a permanent chairman of the chiefs of staff committee as recommended by the Naresh Chandra committee, Raha, who is the current rotating chairman, stated: ‘This government is working faster on the recommendations. All the three services have agreed to having a permanent chairman or chief of defence services (CDS). Let us hope that the recommendation is implemented soon.’
He also indicated that some of the recently opened advanced landing grounds like Nyoma in the north-east of the country on the Sino-Indian boundary, will take longer in becoming fully fledged airfield.
Raha, in his capacity as the chairman COAS, stated that certain ‘compulsions’ drive the Chinese forces to transgress the Line of Actual Control (LAC). ‘These kind of incidents will continue,’ he said.
When asked whether he considered the Modi government being faster in decision-making and implementation than Manmohan Singh, he said: ‘This government means business. We (the chiefs) meet the defence minister every month. There is a greater degree of accountability of the bureaucracy. Every measure is being taken to increase the pace of action.’
He acknowledged that the IAF had a large number of ‘legacy aircrafts,’ which lead to problems in procurement and availability of spares, and thus lead to ‘cannibalisation’ some of the mothballed aircrafts. ‘We would like to have more spares in our possession at the maintenance divisions, because it takes a long time to get the components.’
ACM Raha called the IAF’s relationship with the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) as being of ‘conjoined twins’. ‘We are working together with the view that operational requirements of IAF is met in quickest time,’ he said.
He supported the recent decision of the defence ministry to acquire helicopters – both attack and light utility – from indigenous sources. Raha said: ‘I do not think that the indigenously built helicopters will take very long (to be built).’
The CAS also revealed that with the controversial Agusta Westland AW101 VVIP transport helicopters are not flying anymore. And he indicated that the Mi-17V5s will fly as VVIP transport.
Talking about having a permanent chairman of the chiefs of staff committee as recommended by the Naresh Chandra committee, Raha, who is the current rotating chairman, stated: ‘This government is working faster on the recommendations. All the three services have agreed to having a permanent chairman or chief of defence services (CDS). Let us hope that the recommendation is implemented soon.’
He also indicated that some of the recently opened advanced landing grounds like Nyoma in the north-east of the country on the Sino-Indian boundary, will take longer in becoming fully fledged airfield.
Raha, in his capacity as the chairman COAS, stated that certain ‘compulsions’ drive the Chinese forces to transgress the Line of Actual Control (LAC). ‘These kind of incidents will continue,’ he said.
Next Story