New Delhi: BJP blamed UPA for the shocking incident of ‘Sindhu Ratna’ and alleged that it consistently neglected this vital arm of our defence forces. Party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said 10 Naval accidents in 10 months shows how our Navy is in bad shape. The responsibility for this sorry state of affairs is that of the UPA Govt., as it consistently neglected this vital arm of our defence forces. The Naval Chief has resigned.
The Defence Minister said that Naval Chief was "disturbed" at the tragic happenings on this front. In reality the buck stops at the door of the Defence Minister. The nation is asking the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister why they are not "disturbed" with the loss of life and property as well as face of the nation. Therefore, the Defence Minister must take moral responsibility and resign forthwith. BJP mourns the death of two brave Naval officers.
The glaring neglect of Navy are being pointed out by the Standing Committee on Defence in its various reports while discussing the Budget allocation and procurement equipments for the Navy. Many of the submarines are aged and in depleted conditions as they are procured more than quarter century ago. The Govt decided to replace this aging fleet with new Scorpene submarines. The Scorpene programme has failed to take off and is lagging behind the schedule.
Even, Navy is short of sufficient funds for regular upkeep and necessary maintenance of many occasions. In the recent accident of "Sindhu Ratna" also the old batteries could not be replaced while refitting because of delay in contracting. This resulted in the tragic accident. The CAG also has pointed out these deficiencies in its reports of 2008-09 and 2010-11.
Post a Comment