M A I N   N E W S

Jaitley joins as Defence Minister, albeit temporarily
Says no row over Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag’s appointment
Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 27
BJP leader Arun Jaitley today took over as new Defence Minister, albeit with a rider that he could be in the ministry for “only for couple of weeks”, indicating that there is a Cabinet reshuffle on the cards in the near future for a new incumbent at South Block.

At the Ministry of Defence, Jaitely first put to rest any fears that may been generated within the Army after BJP leaders Gen VK Singh (retd) and Subramaminum Swamy raised questions over the appointment of Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag as the next Army Chief. Jaitley told reporters: “I believe there should be no controversy or no issue about the appointment of any person. Some comments may have been made but this is not to reflect on the person concerned (Lt Gen Suhag) in any manner”.

Jaitley, sources said, laid out a roadmap and told officials that the acquisition process had to be accelerated but within the purview of the set procedures and established rules.

He went on the describe the roadmap saying, “We are certainly concerned with the fact that over the last few years some of the areas had slowed down and expediting them would be the top priority.” Jaitley avoided commenting if the new government would increase the present cap of 26 per cent on defence spending.

The new minister was first briefed by Defence Secretary RK Mathur, Defence Production Secretary GC Pati, Ex-Servicemen Welfare Secretary Sangita Gairola and Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister and DRDO chief Dr Avinash Chander. This was followed by a meeting with the three Service Chiefs, General Bikram Singh, Admiral Robin Dhowan and Air Chief Marshall Arup Raha.

With a budget of Rs 2,24,000 crore for this fiscal ending March 31, 2015, the Ministry of Defence accounts for 12.70 per cent of all government spending – the highest in terms of share of the Budget. In the past, the respective Prime Ministers have held additional charge of Defence, this is the first time that a Finance Minister has been given the Defence portfolio as an additional charge.

In the morning when he took over as Finance Minister he said, “For a transient phase, I will be looking after Ministry of Defence also, but that’s only an additional charge till there’s an expansion in the Cabinet itself”.