Cause For Concern?

A timely book. Timely, since it synchronized with a vigorous debate in the national press on the justification for present outlays on the armed forces and the limits of defence expenditure. This debate was engendered by the rapid escalation in defence outlays for 1988-89 by as much as 43 per cent over the last financial year to over Rs. 12,000 crores. A concern was therefore understandable that defence outlays might rise even further in 1988-89 due to commitments in Sri Lanka and further payments required towards the Brass Tacks exercise, and the fortunately short-lived confrontation with China in Arunachal Pradesh. That defence outlays for 198.8-89 were only raised by some 5 per cent was greeted with a sense of relief. However, the trends in the growth of defence expenditure and the systemic causes thereof, besides the patterns in these escalations noticed in this study are timely and demand greater attention by scholars, bureaucrats—civil and military—and those concerned with our economic development.