Minister of state for defence, Rao Inderjit Singh, on Thursday asked the armed forces to “prioritise” their requirements in the view of the limited budget and also spend the allocated money efficiently.
“You should set priorities. While making the budget, instead of giving a wish list, you should give a priority list. Since we are developing country, we have to spend money on our other needs as well,” Singh said.
He was speaking at the 268th Foundation Day Ceremony of the defence accounts department, which was also attended by Defence Secretary G Mohan Kumar, Air Force Chief Arup Raha, who is also the Chief of Staff Committee and Financial Advisor of Defence Services Sudanshu Mohanty.
Singh believed that although the defence budget is around Rs 3.4 lakh crore, it is not being spent fully.
“Money should be utilised efficiently. If anything is available for Rs 10, it should not be procured at Rs 100 and that too without compromising on the quality and in a limited time frame,” he said.
Singh also commended the role of the defence accounts department for its sincere efforts in helping the government to implement the long overdue One Rank One Pension scheme for ex-servicemen.
Raha said that the money allocated in the budget is insufficient as compared to the demands and this can be observed across all the government departments.
“The funds allocated in the budget are always insufficient. It is not only in the armed forces but also in the other government departments. Whenever we interact with the armed forces of developed countries, we hear the same thing from them... that the money allocated in the budget is insufficient for the procurements for sustaining operations,” he mentioned
“So it is not the question of how much (money) is there in the budget, but it is more important on how do we spend that money... quickly, efficiently so that we get the best results. So my mantra is utilise full allocation of the budget in a stipulated time in the best possible way to get best results,” Raha further said.
