By TCN News:
When the Government of India decided to upgrade the fleet of Indian Air force by introducing MMRCAs (Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft); around six aircraft manufacturers from different countries sent in their tenders. Of the six two of the manufacturers were shortlisted and after careful analysis by the IAF, Dassault Rafale, France was finalized being the lowest bidder.
The procurement process that began in 2007 was finalized in 2016 by the present Government and 36 Rafale fighter jets were purchased.
This deal sealed by the present government and the French Government has many irregularities due to which there has been quite a furor among opposition parties, social activists and civil societies.
Firstly there was a veil of secrecy surrounding the deal and when the deal was out in the open later many facts came to light exposing several discrepancies.
The price of each jet fighter is supposed to be a whooping Rs. 1660 crores which the opposition parties in their press meets have declared, is a loss to the exchequer and Modi has over looked the earlier, cheaper deals that were struck by the UPA Government.
At a press meet yesterday by advocate and activist Prashant Bhushan and former BJP leaders Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie, they highlighted the inconsistencies in the Rafale deal which are:
Dropping HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd a national organization that has decades of experience in building fighter aircrafts and inducting a private company with no experience in the field of aircraft manufacture.
The intention of the present regime has been to kick out HAL and bring in the private company called Reliance Defence Ltd which is supposedly a subsidiary of Reliance Reliance India Ltd and was formed just 10 days before the deal.
There is no consistency in the details of the deal as each time they come up with different explanations contradicting their own statements.
Prashant Bhushan said the manner in which the order for Rafale jets was changed made for a “clear case of criminal misconduct”.
The Defence Minister, in defence of BJP the ruling party has said details cannot be divulged due to security reasons while Minister Arun Jaitley said this was an attempt by the three of them to tarnish the image of the PM.
However the demands put in at the press meeting are one that concerns every citizen. Calling this deal a gross misconduct, scandalous and misuse of office the trio demanded the Government to disclose the facts related to the deal and demanded from the media to expose the truth and not conceal the truth. They also demanded the opposition parties to relentlessly pressurize the Government to answer all questions pertaining to not just the financial aspect but also the overlooking of government institute (HAL) and also violating several procedures.