Parting shot: DRDO146;s doing fine

He beamed as he side-stepped questions on his impending move to the External Affairs Ministry earlier in the day, but Pranab Mukherjee had a packed schedule on the last day of his 29-month tenure as Defence Minister.

He beamed as he side-stepped questions on his impending move to the External Affairs Ministry earlier in the day, but Pranab Mukherjee had a packed schedule on the last day of his 29-month tenure as Defence Minister. Apart from an afternoon meeting in his South Block office with High Commissioner designate to Pakistan Satyabrata Pal 8212; which may have been a coincidence indicating what was to come 8212; the rest of Mukherjee8217;s engagements continued to reflect the numerous political hats he wears, other than being the UPA8217;s first Raksha Mantri and his party8217;s principal troubleshooter.

According to his official schedule for the day, D-G National Cadet Corps NCC Lt Gen PC Choudhary called on Mukherjee for 30 minutes, followed by a half-hour meeting at 5 pm with Minister of State for Urban Development Ajay Maken. At 6 pm, Mukherjee wound up his day after a 30-minute meeting with IAS officer Chandra Pal, Advisor at the Planning Commission.

His last day at MoD began at 11 am, by delivering the inaugural speech at a Ficci conference on public-private partnerships in defence procurements. In a 20-minute address he made it a point to pack in as much as he possibly could about the new Defence Procurement Procedure 2006, a document he counts as one of the chief personal achievements of his tenure.

After the Ficci conference, Mukherjee cheerfully parried queries on his becoming the next External Affairs Minister. 8220;I have said umpteen times it is the exclusive prerogative of the Prime Minister to decide on who will be the next Foreign Minister,8221; he said with a smile. Asked what he thought the next Foreign Minister8217;s priorities should be, he added with a flourish, 8220;I think we should let the new Foreign Minister answer that.8221;

His shift comes at a time when much is happening in the armed forces, but that did not stop him from coming forth on his last day with strong statements on recent events. On army jawans often turning their guns on their colleagues, he said, 8220;We are exploring more rest for soldiers on the frontline. There are stress issues to be looked at individually.8221; Only yesterday, he had gone on record about ISI infiltration in the forces.

Mukherjee also used his last day to categorically state that middlemen were banned from defence deals, and, interestingly, threw his weight behind a criticism-weary DRDO by saying, 8220;Research and development cannot be made to order. While time and cost overruns should be avoided, no country can claim to deliver on schedule.8221;

While Mukherjee counts as 8220;major achievements8221; under his tenure the creation of an ex-servicemen welfare department, tsunami and flood relief operations, the new procurement procedure, the Scorpene submarine deal, implementation of the AV Singh Committee report and improved pensionary benefits, the lowest IAF accident rates and the pushing forward of CBMs with Pakistan in addition to 30 others points, prominent businesses he leaves unfinished include a regular audit system for DRDO, a decision on creating the post of Chief of Defence Staff CDS, long-pending equipment procurements for fighters and artillery, and a coherent missile defence policy.