'Enjoyed my stint in Defence Ministry'

Jaitley also lauded his successor Nirmala Sitharaman, who becomes the first full-fledged woman to be Defence Minister. “I enjoyed every minute as Defence Minister, I loved the job and had two opportunities to serve. I think systems in that ministry are excellent and I have a satisfaction that in a brief period, we did a lot, from Strategic Partnership, to implementing Pay Commission recommendations, resolving the anomalies in the Pay Commission recommendations....

“My last decisions with regard to streamlining ordnce factories having 57,000 personnel to be redeployed from non-essential areas are important directiol changes. It is a great job, but Fince Ministry is an important job and it is not possible indefinitely to take charge of these two ministries... The Prime Minister was aware of these constraints,” Jaitley said. Asked if women in combat maybe a reality with a woman as Defence Minister, Jaitley quipped: “That was one area in which I wasn’t able to do much”. (IANS)