A.K. Antony at the Vijay Diwas celebrations in Delhi on Saturday. (PTI)

New Delhi, Dec. 17: Defence minister A.K. Antony, a surprise choice for the portfolio to replace Pranab Mukherjee when he did in October, has injected a shot of hurry into the ministry by setting deadlines for big-ticket deals and for urgent measures to reduce soldier suicides.

Antony, who came into the ministry with the credentials of being scrupulous, today said, “things are moving very fast now”. He was answering a question on whether his reputation of being studiously clean would slow down procurement of military equipment. He hoped his “clean image” would “scare corrupt elements”.

Antony was clearly addressing a concern within the defence establishment on whether he would pull the political weight of his predecessor in pushing through defence deals that run into billions of dollars.

“There will be no postponement of deals. I have asked for reforms with transparency,” he said on Saturday at his first news conference since taking over as the defence minister. “We are reviewing our military capabilities and we will give the armed forces the most modern equipment they need.”

Antony said he had also asked the director of the Defence Institute of Psychological Research (DIPR) to visit cantonments and army camps and submit a report within two months on what had driven soldiers to commit suicide. This is in addition to a letter he has written to chief ministers to sensitise state administrations to the problems of soldiers.

“In my opinion there are tensions in (soldiers’) families that get transmitted to them with the breakdown of the joint family system,” he said. “We have to give some more facilities (to the soldiers). I have told the DIPR that they have a free hand to go wherever they want to for the report and as soon as that is available we will give it maximum attention”.

A hundred suicides have been reported by soldiers so far this year. On Friday, an Indian Air Force soldier shot himself with his service rifle near Ferozepur. Naik Shankar Lal was on duty in the Ferozepur cantonment. IAF sources said he was worried about differences in his family.

Antony’s statement that he has asked for defence deals to be speeded up comes as encouragement to the Indian Air Force. Its tender for 126 multi-role combat aircraft is slated to be cleared shortly.

Earlier, addressing soldiers and officers on the occasion of Vijay Diwas or Victory Day to commemorate the victory in the 1971 war with Pakistan, Antony said the government was working on more reforms in the procurement procedures.