The Hindu : National : Defence units asked to give time-bound commitment

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Defence units asked to give time-bound commitment

K.V. Prasad

Antony asks deputy to carry out oversight operations regularly

NEW DELHI: In an effort to make the Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSU) more purposeful and accountable, the Defence Ministry has asked all the eight DPSUs under it to give a time-bound commitment of delivery schedules within a month.

Aware that each of these mammoth organisations are run on corporate lines, the Ministry has decided to have these plans that will be monitored on a periodic basis to ensure that the DPSUs do not fall back on commitments.

Defence Minister A.K. Antony has tasked his deputy, M.M. Pallam Raju, to carry out the oversight operations on a regular basis to infuse greater accountability and delivery as per schedules.

“Since each of these organisations have their own board, the Ministry does not want to interfere but has asked each of them to submit plans they have drawn up for implementing various projects” top officials in the Ministry told The Hindu on Thursday.

Soon after beginning his second innings, the Defence Minister reviewed the working of the DPSUs at a meeting that was attended by their heads. He directed them to implement the projects in a time-bound manner, tone up the delivery mechanism and maintain product supplies.

Officials associated with the oversight mechanism would now have before them delivery commitments drawn up by each of the DPSU against the existing projects whose progress could be measured.

The decision comes even as the DPSUs are gearing for greater participation in production with expanding budgets for military acquisitions that now have an in-built offset clause.

The Defence Procurement Plan 2008 envisages 30 per cent offsets, whereby foreign firms that are awarded contracts have to source 30 per cent of the value from domestic manufacturers. This, in turn, has given a boost to production of high technology at home with many foreign suppliers entering into joint ventures. The offset clause is seen by the Ministry to usher in greater indigenisation of defence procurement which, at present, depends 70 per cent on imports.

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