NEW DELHI: Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) V. N. Kaul on Wednesday called for a total review of the purchase procedures followed by the Defence Ministry, as the present system was ``still not ideal'' for modernisation of the armed forces.

``There is a clear case for change. The real challenge is to meet the crisis of military modernisation in a comprehensive manner by integrating planning, budgeting and acquisition strategies.'' at a seminar on defence economics and finance here.

The fresh effort this year to streamline and integrate the procedure had failed to create a new organisational culture and evolve a code of conduct for acquisition professionals that is ``able to sustain public confidence in the system.'' .

Mr. Kaul listed six issues afflicting the system. The Defence Ministry would purchase new equipment worth Rs. 30,000 crore in 2006-07, besides spending Rs. 18,000 crore on stores, supplies and fuel. The annual spending would be Rs. 89,000 crore, but there was limited acquisition expertise among bureaucrats and armed forces personnel, he regretted.

The CAG pulled up the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), whose accountability needs to be ``re-emphasised to enable better assessment of return from investment.'' Frequently, lack of clarity, due to organisational conflicts on importing or locally producing defence systems, proved ``very costly" in the long run.

Besides defence R & D, where accountability often ``took shelter under the policy of self-reliance,'' Mr. Kaul said the ``the comfort of blanket government approval sometimes tends to dilute the oversight role of the Defence Ministry''.

The other four lacunae were, the ``alarmingly long'' time taken to receive goods, non-utilisation of funds, poor contract negotiations and quality deficiencies in the purchased product. He suggested providing more rigorous training and creation of a separate cadre of acquisition professionals.

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