If the Army headquarters wants to buy arms and ammunition without the prior approval of the Defence ministry and Defence Minister AK Antony, there is a good news. Antony on Monday gave his ‘in principle’ approval to a three-fold hike empowering the financial powers to Service Headquarters – from the current Rs.50 crores to Rs.150 crores – with the sole objective of accelerating the process of procurement for the armed forces.
The decision was taken after Antony had a meeting here with the three Service Chiefs – Admiral Nirmal Verma, General VK Singh, Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne -- and Defence Secretary Shashikant Sharma. A detailed review of the security situation was also made at the meeting, Sitanshu Kar, the chief spokesperson of the Ministry of Defence, said. Antony directed the three Service Chiefs to explore more avenues for giving permanent commission to women in the Armed Forces.
Antony also had a one-on-one meeting on Monday morning with the Chief of Army Staff General Singh, who is retiring on May 31. Imagine what would Antony have said to the angry Gen. Singh who has been blasting the establishment.
