Arun Singh asked to stay on till polls

But even in the last couple of months — for which he has earned a princely salary of Re 1 — Singh has directly and otherwise moved around his stated brief, taking, nevertheless, great care in doing so. From being the “interface” between the ministries of External Affairs and Defence, Singh is now said to be increasingly involved in the post-Kargil spring-cleaning of the Defence ministry.

Highly placed sources point out that since the Kargil operation only underlined the need to geton with upgrading defence equipment, all three chiefs of the armed forces had been asked to prepare lists of what they need. It seems as if Singh has been asked to help evaluate these lists, especially with reference to the nuclear doctrine’s declared intention of putting together a triad of nuclear-capable forces.

“Arun Singh has been recently acting as a facilitator between the ministry of Defence and the armed forces,” the sources said.

There is said to be another reason why Singh is much in demand in the government: as the author of the Arun Singh Committee report on the restructuring of the armed forces in the mid-1980s, Singh may be asked to look into this aspect if the BJP returns to government.

Bureaucrats — and there are a few in South Block — who wax eloquent about Arun Singh, point out that the armed forces need to adapt to the new nuclearised environment in South Asia. “Arun Singh is one of a handful of people who has the expertise to look at this restructuring,” one officialsaid.

Defence Ministry officials say that since the Bofors gun scandal of the mid-1980s, the government has made few large purchases of defence equipment. The officials confirmed that 10 Mirage-2000 aircraft were being negotiated for with Paris, and that this could be one of the first big buys soon after a new government returned to power.

“Arun Singh carries with him the reputation of being an honest man. If he were to be the right man to evaluate the expensive toys the armed forces need,” the official added.