Parliamentary Debates Parliament of India Monday 26th March 1951 Part II - Proceedings other than Questions and Answers Official Report

Now, during the year that is now coming to an end, the Estimates Com- mittee had several opportunities of having side-lights into the working of the Defence Ministry, and what dis- tressed the members of the Estimates Committee was—I regret I have to make the observation—the obstinacy and the arrogance of some of the re- presentatives of that Ministry whose administration we dared to question in t [...] The same situation prevailed in England, and the Estimates Committee of the House of Commons invited the attention of the War Office to this fact, and they wrote that in view of the civil needs in the postwar years in England and more recently because of the export drive, the Army had no alternative but to make the fullest use of its wartime stocks of vehicles. [...] Pandit Kunzru: The Finance Minis- ter referring to the reductions made in the army expenditure during the current year said that the full, effect of the reductions made in the strength of the army would be reflected only in the estimates of the next year and he then added "It is also hoped to effect certain further reductions during that year. " Later on he says "The reduc- tion in the armed force [...] Is the money saved in this manner to be spent on the development of the Air Force and the Navy or, does the extra money given to these services this year represent all the development that should, in the opinion of the Government. [...] But surely this does not represent the maximum effort that the Government have to make to provide for the future security of the country, particularly keeping in view the genuine reduction in the strength of the army.