CALL FOR ALIGNING DEFENCE LOGISTICS WITH NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE: ADVISOR, TRANSPORT, NITI AAYOG

Advisor, Transport, NITI Aayog, Dr. Manoj Singh on Tuesday called for an intense and meticulous army-civil exchange on logistics and infrastructure to enable government and armed forces to put in place the desired logistics facilities for faster mobility both in times of crisis and peace.

Addressing a Seminar & Exhibition on Military Logistics & Transportation 2017 under aegis of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Army HQ here today, Dr. Singh said that at present dispensation not many channels of communication are open between army and civil and that time has come that a serious note of it is taken so that a proper coordination is developed in this direction.

“The proper army-civil exchange channel is now urgently called for in the national interests so that development of logistics is seen and done with integrated and holistic approach”, said Dr. Singh.

According to him, the roads and railways expansion are being done in all parts of the country specifically in the north-east with an accelerated speed and much more could be seen taking off by end of current fiscal.

Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Nutan Guha Biswas, Chairperson, Inland Waterways Authority of India, also promised the industry that inland waterways would come up as per targets set in by the government for logistics movements for all sections of society including those of armed forces also as with their taking off, the logistics cost would come down heavily.

Lt. Gen. Sarath Chand, Vice Chief of Army Staff, who also spoke on the occasion emphasizied on logistics integration aspects among all stakeholders, but cautioned that loopholes that currently exists on logistics aspects need to be addressed with a sense of equity.

According to Lt Gen Sharat Chand, while investments on logistics could be liberal but armed forces should not be over stretched on its budget and on majority of logistics and infrastructure projects, the central and state pool should have maximum contribution in terms of their finance.

Earlier, speaking on the occasion Mohd. Jamshed, Member Traffic, Railway Board, in his observations emphasized that Indian Railways and Ministry of Defence would continue to cement their relationship for better and efficient military logistics so that efficiency and resource utilization are optimized for intended purposes.

Lt. Gen. Balbir Singh Sandhu, Director General Supplies & Transport, earlier speaking on the occasion stressed that India has already put up a large infrastructure for efficient movement of logistics and what needs to be done is to integrate all forms of infrastructure such as roads, highways, airways including railways in a proper manner so that it yields the desired results which can be possible only with integrated approach among all stakeholders.

Rajiv Bhatnagar, Chairman Defence Committee, PHD Chamber, in his remarks endorsed what Lt. Gen. Sandhu observed adding that this is what exactly PHD Chamber is seeking the government to take off the logistic movement with the same approach.