His reputation as Mr. Clean often precedes Defence Minister A.K. Antony – so much so that he is sometimes accused of not doing anything for fear of inviting a bad name.
His reluctance to take even the smallest decision is weighed heavily lest it should harm his clean image. But Antony finally chose a function organized by Transparency International, the global civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption, as a forum to come clean on this charge.
In an impromptu speech, Antony said: “Sometimes when we are trying to curb corruption we are accused of no action! And that we are stopping modernisation of our security forces by cancelling defence tenders.”
Antony has often been criticised for cancelling defence tenders at the slightest questioning. The most recent hit has been the Indian Army’s artillery modernisation plan with a shortlisted Singaporean gun major being blacklisted by the defence ministry.
