A Perfect Mess! An Eyeopener Article By Sunil Dandawate

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Amidst the on-going chaos of dirty politics, price hikes, corruption issues and scams and Rath Yatras, there is yet another mess going on, which the common man may not be aware of.[/size]
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We all are aware of the three distinctive security services in India: Beyond the international borders it’s the Armed Forces, on the borders it’s the Border Security Force and inside the borders it’s the Police Forces. Since the BSF is literally and figuratively “between” the Armed Forces and the Police Forces, it is termed as a para-military force (meaning semi-military, quasi-military, whatever). And while the Armed Forces are under the Ministry of Defence, the BSF and Police Forces come under the Ministry of Home Affairs.[/size]
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So where is the mess? Well, here it is >>>[/size]
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The BSF has helicopters, but they are not sufficient in numbers to effectively support para-military operations in Maoist-affected areas. So what’s the big deal? Well, the BSF has helicopters but no trained pilots to fly these helicopters! [i]What? No pilots?[/i] No, not really; the BSF has adequate trained pilots, but they are all trained to fly Chetak helicopters, which the BSF no longer has! [i]Oh, no![/i] So what helicopters does the BSF now possess? Well, the BSF now has a fleet of ALH-Dhruv helicopters (remember, those not sufficient ones mentioned above?) but the Government of India company called “Pawan Hans” and the Ministry of Defence have both refused to train the existing Chetak pilots of BSF on ALH-Dhruvs in their respective training facilities! So, now-a-days, BSF helicopters and BSF pilots are sitting idle, separately, because they are not compatible to each other. How do you like it?!![/size]
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There’s more. The Indian Air Force has issued out calls for tenders to hire civil helicopters to ferry essential supplies to Indian Army’s border posts in Northern and Eastern regions. A similar scheme is also in the offing to help out the Border Roads Organization. [i]Hold on, hold on . . . ,[/i] can the IAF operate independently? No, it is democracy. So, the above mentioned tendering etc. is all done under directions from the Ministry of Defence.[/size]
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The same Ministry of Defence has recently made the IAF pull out its 17 helicopters from various UN peace keeping assignments, and made the Indian Army deploy its fleet of light utility helicopters for UN missions! Amidst all this, the Ministry of Home Affairs is now on its way to hiring helicopters for anti-Maoist operations of para-military forces![/size]
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Should we talk about all Chief Ministers' and Governors' helicopters? No . . . ? Well, okay![/size]
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Sounds like a perfect mess, doesn’t it? Yeah! It is one!! Makes one ponder . . . , do we really need enemies across the borders?[/size]
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[img]http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/308461_10150345299008071_87167763070_8107667_327091602_n.jpg[/img][/size]