With new Army Chief,Commanders get more say

In fact,with General Singh taking over as Army Chief,the following changes were evident during the Army Commanders’ conference:

For the first time,no prepared merit list for senior officers,Brigadiers to Major Generals and Major Generals above,due for promotion was shown to Army Commanders for the value judgment exercise. Instead the top commanders were only given the data sheets and past records of the officers in line for promotion so that they form their own views and not get influenced by the merit list.

Tedious quantification procedures that were prepared by the military secretariat last year in divergence from the laid down procedures by former Deputy Chief Lt General Sushil Gupta have been done away with. These divergences were objected to by at least two Army Commanders last year but they were overruled by a voice vote. A new study is underway to lay down simple and transparent quantification procedures for officers’ promotions.

Rather than blaming the Defence Ministry for delay in hardware acquisition,the headquarters will now appoint a nodal officer for each proposed acquisition,who will act as the liaison between the Weapons Directorate and the Deputy Chief in charge of capital purchases. This officer will be held accountable if some discrepancies,like those detected in general staff qualitative requirements for artillery guns and BM-21 GRAD rocket systems carrying vehicles,are detected at a later stage.

Proposal to allow recruitment of Army officers in the NDA on a seven-year contract and allow even those who are selected by the Staff Selection Board for Short Service Commission but do not make it to the final cut to join the force in a bid to encourage more youth to join the military.