Please steer clear of involving Army in CWG construction

The unfortunate Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium bridge that collapsed last week injuring 27 people is being reconstructed by the Indian Army. Now that the jawaans are involved, there is a little doubt that the project will be completed in time. However, this state of affairs does raise the bigger question as to why the civilian authorities are so far behind in comparison to the military in simple things like construction and event management. 

India has had a long tradition of calling on its military to take care of tasks, far removed from security, in times of emergency; tasks like disaster management and mitigation, which are understandable, but also like environmental clean-up, tree plantations and now foot overbridge construction. Although Indian Army is alway able to deliver, despite the absurdity of these tasks for an organization geared towards security, it can hardly claim superiority to civilian authorities in terms of experience or expertise. As far as civilian tasks are concerned, army's strength lies only in leadership and organization skills. Yet the civilian government often turns hat in hand towards the army to do what the civilians cannot.  

What I am trying to say is that the decision to give army the task of completing the bridge is not in any way catastrophic, but it does have a symbolic impact. There is a reason why the civilian and military authority has been delineated and civil organizations conceding inferiority in domains where they should be, by all rights, superior to the army is not correct (admittedly little has gone right at all in the Commonwealth Games preparations). 

Fortunately, the Indian Army has never shown an inkling towards replacing the civilian control; however, history of the world and especially South Asia serves a stern reminder that it doesn't take long for the circumstances to change. The Indian Military Officer Corps should have faith in the civilian machinery to be capable to run the country. More often than not, the driving force behind military control in a country has been lack of faith in the civil government rather than greed of the generals.

Note: Now that I have written it, I am thinking that this idea is too far out there. Yet, at the same time, I think it shouldn't be dismissed out of hand. 

Image: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi

Image Credit: seaview99