Moneylife:
Pune: Wednesday, October 08, 2014.
The
department of defence production has just announced it publicly while the
Ministry of Home Affairs keeps the classification secret
For a clear
vision, both eyes need to look at same direction. If this is not the case then
the condition is called as cross-eyes or strabismus. Unfortunately, various
ministries and departments of the Indian government are showing off this same
condition. According to information procured under the Right to Information
(RTI) Act, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) keeps record classification
criteria secret, while Department of Defence Production (DDP) advertises it
publicly!
Venkatesh
Nayak from the National Campaign for Peoples' Right to Information (NCPRI),
says, "Since past several years, the MHA has stubbornly refused to
disclose the criteria for marking official records 'Top Secret', 'Secret' and
'Confidential'. I demanded publication of the secretive Manual of Departmental
Security Instructions (MoDSI), which contains the classification criteria and
procedures under the RTI Act a few years ago and failed in my efforts. Even the
Central Information Commission refused to order its disclosure despite hearing
strong arguments based on legal concepts and international practices in support
of disclosure."
"However,"
he said, "the Department of Defence Production (DDP) of the Ministry of
Defence has laid down the criteria for and procedure for classifying records as
'Top Secret', 'Secret' and 'Confidential' in a manual publicised in June this
year for- believe it or not - private sector companies and firms that obtain
licenses for producing defence-related commodities. Readers may access the
Security Manual for Licensed Defence Industries, on the DDP website.
The criteria
for classifying sensitive documents of private companies engaged in defence
production according to the manual are given below:
“TOP SECRET”
shall be applied to information and equipment, the unauthorised disclosure of
which could be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the National
Security or national Interest. This category is reserved for the nation’s
closest SECRETs and is to be used with great reserve.
“SECRET”
shall be applied to information and equipment, the unauthorized disclosure of
which could be expected to cause serious damage to the National Security or
National Interests or cause serious embarrassment to the Government in its
functioning. This classification should be used for highly important matters
and is the highest classification normally used.
“CONFIDENTIAL”
shall be applied to information and equipment, the unauthorised disclosure of
which could be expected to cause damage to National Security or could be
prejudicial to the National Interests or would embarrass the Government in its
functioning.
“RESTRICTED”
shall be applied to information and equipment which is essentially meant for
official use only and which should not be published or communicated, to anyone
except for official purpose.
Nayak said,
"While arguing my case, before the CIC in 2009, I had pointed out that
rules and regulations themselves cannot be kept secret. The CIC in its wisdom
did not buy that argument. However, the MoD thinks differently and that should
be welcomed. I had also pointed out last year that a chapter on classification
procedures and criteria is published online in the Manual of Office Procedure
of the Andaman and Nicobar Administration which is a division in the Home
Ministry. This was the first instance of making the criteria for classifying
official documents public. The DDP's disclosure is the second in this line of
proactive disclosure. The Home Ministry has little reason to keep the original
Manual secret."
In 2001, the
Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government lifted
curbs on private sector participation in defence production. Since then the
limit on foreign investments, including foreign direct investment (FDI) and
foreign institutional investment (FII) and foreign portfolio investment has
been reduced bit by bit. At present, private companies can manufacture almost
any kind of defence equipment in India ranging from battle tanks to aircrafts
and their component parts as well as spare parts. Therefore, it is obvious that
such private companies will be required to generate, or hold, a range of
information whose public disclosure would be harmful to the defence and
security interests of the country. This lead to creation of DDP's Manual
containing instructions for classifying documents and also ensuring the safety
of equipment and manufacturing or assembly premises.
Nayak said,
"The wheel has turned a full circle since 2009 when the CIC bought the
government's argument that if the MoDSI used in government offices is disclosed
under RTI, it will fall into the hands of terrorists- an argument that the CIC
bought hook, line and s(t)inker and rejected my appeal for disclosure. I wonder
if the MHA, which was the party to my case still thinks that the Security
Manual will also be used by terrorists as it is accessible online to any person
sitting in any corner of the planet."
According to
the DDP's website, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has
issued 222 Letters of Intent or Industrial licenses to private companies. Of
these 46 companies are reported to have commenced production as of August 2014
(see details on DDP's website. The DIPP has disclosed names and contact details
of a range of companies that have been licensed to start production in various
sectors of the economy including the defence sector.
Although DIPP
has made this disclosure to comply with its proactive disclosure obligation
under Section 4(1)(b)(xiii) of the RTI Act the extent and quality of disclosure
leaves much to be desired, feels Nayak. In some cases, the total amount of
investment approved is not known, in others the number of persons employed is
not known. Perhaps readers might like to hunt for these details on MCA21
website if the private entity is registered as a company in India. All
companies bringing in FDI must be registered in India according to the FDI
policy relating to defence production. The DIPP must disclose similar details
of all licensee companies immediately, to comply with the promise of increased
transparency made by the NDA Government, he added.
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