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The Defence Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee has said that the review of the defence Procurement procedure will be complete soon. Addressing the Defence Ministry Consultative Committee meeting in New Delhi today, Shri Mukherjee expressed hope that the revised procedure will be more streamlined towards the requirements of the armed forces.
During the course of the meeting the Minister informed the members that over 73 per cent of the defence allocation for the current financial year has already been spent till the end of December last year.
The Defence Minister added that more emphasis will be given to research and development in the field of defence production and quality control. The Defence Minister lauded the indigenous production of Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, MBT Arjun and Advanced Light Helicopter Dhruv and termed them as some of the shining examples of India’s defence production capabilities.
Referring to the creation of a department of the Ex Servicemen Welfare in the Ministry, Shri Mukherjee said that this shows the government’s commitment to the welfare of Ex servicemen. The Minister informed the members that a Group of Ministers is looking into the long standing demand of one-rank one-pension of the Ex Servicemen and invited their suggestions on the issue. Shri Mukherjee said that he is taking personal interest in the matters of land/house allotment to Kargil heroes and war widows. He informed the members that he has taken up the matter with the Chief Ministers and the Defence Secretary has written to the Chief Secretaries of the respective states.
While the participating members unanimously appreciated the efforts of the defence production units they stressed on the need for more budget allocation for R&D efforts. The members were of the opinion that one rank one pension demand of ex-servicemen is justified and should be accepted by the Government. One member was of the opinion that Defence Ministry should take up the issue of imposition of sales tax by some states on CSD items with the respective State Governments.
Shri MA Kharabela Swain, Shri Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, Smt Jayaben B Thakkar, Shri Anant Kumar Hegde, Shri Samik Lahiri Shri A Shivajirao Patil and Shri Braja Kishore Tripathy from Lok Sabha and Dr Karan Singh, Shri K Jana Krishnamurty, Dr Vijay Mallaya and Shri Robert Kharshiing from Rajya Sabha attended the meeting.
Defence Secretary Shri Ajai Vikram Singh, Defence Production Secretary Shri Shekhar Dutt, Secretary Defence Finance Ms Somi Tandon and Secretary Defence Research and Development Organisation Shri M Natarajan were also present in the meeting.
UKM / SKS / ASR
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