The Navy needs help

Politicians calling for the defence minister to resign owning moral responsibility for the fatal accident on the yet-to-be commissioned destroyer INS Kolkata last Friday are taking off on a tangent. What happened in Yard 701 was an industrial accident that could occur in the manufacture of anything, from a spacecraft to a screwdriver.

The larger issue is to do with Navy accidents of which we have had too many — in fact, 10 in the past 11 months, excluding what happened on INS Kolkata. The fact is that besides all other factors, the overuse of our ships, built on ancient British and Russian platforms, in anti-piracy and anti-terrorism expeditions are also stretching use and maintenance.

While the nation is engaged in a massive shipbuilding programme, the government, the defence ministry and the armed forces have to work in tandem to ensure no compromises are made in Navy operations and security drills, and that maintenance and inspection manuals are adhered to.

The Navy must attract the best engineering and technical talent to overcome quality compromises caused by the austerity imposed by the slump in decision-making, which has become the hallmark of the Antony era in South Block. A trail of indecision in a strategic area might even make us believe honesty is not necessarily the only badge a politician should wear.

There is so much to be done for the Navy in building new ships and submarines and for exemplary discipline on the operational side. Mr Antony and his successor after the general election need to smarten up.