Indian Defence Review

Lessons Learnt should be grouped under three broad heads as follows:-

LLC should forward all Lessons Learnt to DGA, who may seek additional information or clarifications before according his acceptance. Thereafter, Lessons Learnt reports should be disseminated as follows:-

• Policy Issues. These should be forwarded to all members of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC). DAC, headed by the Defence Minister, is the overarching policy making body. It may constitute a small sub-group to study Lessons Learnt report and recommend policy changes, if necessitated. On receipt of sub-group’s report, DAC may debate various aspects at length and take suitable decisions.
• Procedural Issues. Reports on Lessons Learnt with respect to procedural issues should be sent to all members of Defence Procurement Board (DPB), headed by the Defence Secretary. DPB is the promulgating authority for the defence procurement procedure. Changes suggested can be examined by an expert cell and decisions taken accordingly.
• Functional Issues. Acquisition Wing is the executive arm that implements all decisions taken by DAC and DPB. Being the head of the Acquisition Wing, DGA has to consider all Lessons Learnt as regards their functionality on ground. He may seek help of a few knowledgeable functionaries and take corrective measures to make ground level implementation smooth, fast and efficient. A process of consultations should simultaneously be initiated with other agencies involved in the procurement administration.

To ensure that all reports on Lessons Learnt and follow up action taken do not get buried in files, LLC should also be mandated to store them in a suitable electronic format for easy retrieval and reference. When adequate information gets accumulated, patterns of common infirmities would emerge, thereby facilitating meaningful reforms.

Conclusion

India is expected to spend close to 100 billion dollars on capital procurements in the next ten years. It has generally been accepted the world over that an efficient acquisition organisation can not only expedite procurements but also affect a saving of up to 15 percent of the capital expenditure in initial purchase price and associated life-cycle costs. When translated into actual figures, saving for India may amount to a whopping 15 billion dollars. Therefore, it is time India puts its act together and initiates measures to learn from past mistakes to prevent their recurrence.

India is expected to spend close to 100 billion dollars on capital procurements in the next ten years. It has generally been accepted the world over that an efficient acquisition organisation can not only expedite procurements but also affect a saving of up to 15 percent of the capital expenditure in initial purchase price and associated life-cycle costs.

LLC is proposed to be created under DGA for the twin purposes of drawing lessons from past mistakes and to create a data bank. All acquisition functionaries gain experience while performing their duties. Presently, their experience is totally wasted as they move on to other jobs on normal turn-over.

Therefore, it is essential to convert individual experience into organisational experience through a well-structured process of building institutional memory through analytical study of all acquisition cases. Such studies should facilitate identification of common mistakes and the contributory factors. It is only then that necessary lessons can be drawn to initiate reforms.

Finally, both individuals and organisations commit mistakes. It is an inevitable part of evolution. It is commonly said that mistakes are a great educator when one is honest enough to admit them and willing to learn from them. Honest admission is thus the key – not to find scapegoats but for corrective action to prevent their occurrence.

The process of learning from mistakes has to be institutionalised. Indian defence procurement regime can ill-afford to continue repeating the same mistakes in the misplaced hope that they would get eventually sorted out of their own. It will be prudent to remember American writer Frank Herbert’s counsel – ‘insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results’.