Parliamentary Standing Committee member says 70 per cent of arms with Army fit to be kept in museum
NEW DELHI: S. Raut, a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee, on Wednesday, acknowledged the lack of funds for the Indian Army, and likened the lack of attention paid to it by top government officials to treason.
“True that defence funds are insufficient. Army Vice-Chief said 70% of arms with Army are fit to be kept in a museum. That in itself speaks volumes. If the Prime Minister, Defence Minister, Finance Minister don't take it seriously it's betrayal with the nation,” said Raut.
On Tuesday, the Vice-Chief of Army Staff, Sarath Chand reportedly told members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee that in the latest budget, funds allocated for the Indian Army was nowhere near the required amount to ‘modernise’ the Indian Army and its weapons.
The Indian Army, having regular exchanges of gunfire with Pakistan on the Jammu and Kashmir border front, has a weapons cache which is gravely below standards, with only eight percent falling in the state-of-the-art category, 24 percent being in the current and an alarming 68 percent being in the vintage classification.
Being the second largest army in the world in terms of personnel, the Indian Army spend 52.2 billion USD last year, the fifth highest military expenditure in the world, according to a study by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.