Agenda for the new army chief

Agenda for the new army chief
Hridaya Kaul

At last the appointment of the next Army Chief has been made. Congratulations to Lieutenant-General Padmanabhan. He has a hard job, and I wish him good luck. He can do it if he follows the principles of leadership meticulously.

For some time now, the Army has been going through a crisis of confidence. This is a fact, despite what the top brass may tell the government and the public. The top does not trust anyone in the Army -- a most undesirable state of affairs. And the junior and senior levels of officers and men have no confidence in most of the top brass, with some exceptions. There is a widespread belief in the lower levels that the majority of top brass live in ivory towers and are out of touch with realities. The juniors also feel that the seniors' main concern is personal advancement no matter how high they have already reached. There are a number of indicators for this lack of trust. The number of officers who wish to leave the service on premature retirement, and of non-statutory and statutory complaints and complaints in civil courts are only some of the indicators. The new Chief will have to apply himself to this problem, immediately.

Another tendency he has to root out is the parochialism practised and soughtto be practised at the highest levels. All officers must be made to realise that the first priority for all of them is the national interest and the second the interest of the Army. In my 40 years of army service, I have neverfound these two priorities clashing.Ø Another matter which the new Chief will have to tackle is the inter-servicesrelations within the armed forces. These have had their `highs' and lows'.In recent years, there has been a `low', clearly noticeable from some events in 1998 and 1999. In the national interest and the interests of the armed forces, it is necessary that the three services act as one at all levels from the Chiefs downwards. At times, there may be conflicting requirements but instead of running to the bureaucrats or ministers, the Chiefs should sort these out by discussions.

The morale of Army officers has also been affected adversely by a number of liberties taken by some senior officers as well as some politicians with the established work ethos and principles of conduct. Just one example of each will suffice. Some time ago, a certain number of officers had to be selected for a UN assignment. The selection was done through a laid-down procedure by computer. When the list was put up to the Lt-General, then head of the branch, he called the colonel of the selection concerned and told him to putin the name of his son, who was also serving. The colonel politely refused and told him that the computer had produced the list as per the procedure approved by the general himself. The colonel was posted out of the section and the son did go on the UN assignment! The news spread all over the Army.µ Then, a few years ago, Mulayam Singh Yadav as Defence Minister gave an extension to a major-general and, through the Selection Board had rejected him for promotion, promoted him to the rank of Lt- General. The whole Army came to know of it. The new Chief has to ensure that no extensions are granted, and that interference and nepotism by politicians or senior officers is not allowed.

Additionally, the decline in the quality of life of the Army affects the morale of officers and jawans. The prevailing conditions of service in the Army are, indeed, pitiable. The way the Army is deployed, officers and men are repeatedly posted to field areas where their families cannot live with them. When they are posted to peace stations, there is not sufficient accommodation for all of them. To add to their woes, in most places, there are water and power problems and the accommodation is substandard. The problem needs serious attention.

Although, the Army has a primary role, it is mostly employed in its secondary role. With few exceptions this has been misused more often. In Jammu and Kashmir, for example, it has tackled terrorism for over 10 years. This has done serious harm to the Army. Finally the Chief will have to set a personal example in everything.µThe writer is a former Lieutenant General