Nirmala Sitharaman India’s first full-time woman Defence minister

New Delhi, Sep. 3 (PTI): In a big promotion, Nirmala Sitharaman today became the first woman to become a full-time Defence Minister of the country as she faced the challenge of speeding up modernisation of the three forces in her new role.
58-year-old Sitharaman, a Rajya Sabha member, is the second woman to take charge of the crucial ministry as Indira Gandhi, as the Prime Minister, had also held the portfolio in the seventies.
Her elevation is seen as reward for her good work as the Commerce Minister. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was handling the Defence Ministry after Manohar Parrikar quit to become the Goa’s chief minister in March.
Sitharaman will now be a member of the crucial Cabinet Committee on Security whose members include the prime minister, home minister, external affairs minister and the finance minister.
“Somebody who has come from a small town, grown into the party with all the support of the leadership, and if given such responsibility, it just makes you feel sometimes that cosmic grace is there. Otherwise, it is impossible,” she told reporters.
Sitharaman said she was just overwhelmed and humbled.
“I am sure, now that I have an extremely competent successor in Nirmala Sitharaman, she will carry the road forward,” Jaitley said congratulating Sitharaman.
One of the BJP’s chief spokespersons before its ascent to power, Sitharaman is an alumna of the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
As the Defence Minister, Sitharaman will face several challenges, including strengthening of the combat capabilities of the Army, Navy and the Air Force due to changing regional security matrix and geo-political dynamics.
Defence experts feel the frequency of incidents of incursions by the Chinese Army may go up in the coming months and years after the Dokalam face-off, and Sitharaman may face a challenge in handling such complex issues.
The government has been focusing on domestic defence production and Sitharaman will have to carry forward a number of big-ticket reform initiatives, including implementing the ambitious “strategic partnership” model with several countries like the United States and Russia.
Under the new model, select Indian private firms will be roped in to build military platforms like submarines and fighter jets in India in partnership with foreign defence majors.
On August 30, the government had announced major reforms in the Indian Army to enhance its combat capability which will include redeployment of nearly 57,000 officers and other ranks. She will have to play a key role in implementing this initiative.
Sitharaman also faces the challenge of modernising the defence research organisations and various other defence public sector undertakings.
Parrikar’s tenure as the Defence Minister saw the clearance of a raft of arms deals, besides simplification of the acquisition process. He had also pushed for a number of stalled acquisition projects. However, majority of the military modernisation programmes are delayed due to administrative hurdles and various other reasons.

From economics to defence
Set to be the first woman to be a full-time Defence Minister in India, Nirmala Sitharaman’s journey in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) started as a spokesperson, and grew in rank soon with her speaking style and debating skills.
On Sunday, Sitharaman became India’s second woman Defence Minister and the first woman to take charge of this key ministry full time. Then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had held the Defence portfolio twice – from December 1 to December 21 in 1975, and January 14, 1980 to January 15, 1982.
“Somebody who has come from a small town, grown into the party with all the support of the leadership, and if given such responsibility, it just makes you feel sometimes that cosmic grace is there. Otherwise it is impossible,” Sitharaman told reporters here after taking oath as a Union Minister.
An economist by education, Sitharaman will take charge of the crucial ministry at a time when tension continues along India’s borders with Pakistan and China, and the government is undertaking major reforms in the ministry and forces, and has ambitious plans to increase defence manufacturing under its flagship ‘Make in India’ policy.
Born in the temple town of Madurai in Tamil Nadu in 1959, Sitharaman has humble roots. Her father worked in the Railways, and her childhood was spent in different parts of the state due to her father’s transferable job. According to those close to the minister, her mother, a homemaker, had love for books, which instilled a love for reading in Sitharaman as well.
After finishing her graduation in Economics from Seethaiakshmi Ramaswamy College in Tiruchirapalli, Sitharaman did a Masters and M.Phil in Economics from the premier Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi. She then worked in the Agricultural Engineers Association, UK in London, Senior Manager, Research and Analysis with PricewaterhouseCoopers, also in London and briefly with the BBC World Service.
After coming back to India, Sitharaman served as a Deputy Director of the Centre for Public Policy Studies at Hyderabad. She also started a school in Hyderabad, and was a member of the National Commission for Women from 2003-2005.
In 2008, Sitharaman joined Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and was made a member of the National Executive and became a national spokesperson of the party in 2010. As a spokesperson of the main opposition party at that time, Sitharaman, with her clear command of issues and straight approach, came in the limelight soon.
When the BJP came in power in 2014, Sitharaman was inducted into the ministry, serving as Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs and then held charge of Commerce and Industry Ministry as Minister of State (Independent Charge). Sitharaman is married to Parakala Prabhakar, an alumnus of Jawaharlal Nehru University and London School of Economics, and the couple has a daughter. (IANS)