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Tribune News Service

New Delhi/Srinagar, May 25

The Indian Army ordered a court of enquiry on Friday into the conduct of Major Leetul Gogoi following the incident at a hotel in Dalgate Srinagar.  The major had booked a room for himself in the hotel where a woman was scheduled to come and meet him.

The woman has recorded a statement under Section 164 of the CrPC saying she knew Major Gogoi.Army Chief Bipin Rawat had earlier in the day said exemplary punishment would be given to Major Leetul Gogoi if he was found guilty of “any offence”.(Read: Hotel fracas: Girl states she met Major of her ‘own will’)

“If Major Gogoi has done something wrong then I can say that he will be given due punishment and the punishment will be such that it will set an example,” Gen Rawat told reporters in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district. He arrived on a two-day visit to Kashmir on Thursday to review the security situation.

On May 23, Gogoi was briefly detained by police in Srinagar after an altercation when he was allegedly trying to enter a hotel with an 18-year-old woman, according to a police official.“If any officer of the Indian Army is found guilty of any offence, we will take strictest possible action,” Rawat told reporters at Pahalgham while on a visit to the Army Goodwill School. “If Major Gogoi has done something wrong, I assure you that he will be awarded punishment at the earliest…the punishment will set an example,” the Army chief said.The Jammu and Kashmir Police has initiated an inquiry into the incident involving Gogoi, whose decision to tie a civilian to the bonnet of his vehicle in Kashmir last year sparked a row. — With PTI

The MoD’s acceptance of the proposal for reversing the ratio of the Main to Support segments of the Army’s officer cadre will afford both better cadre and financial management

Lt-Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (retd)To understand the readiness of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to implement, in phases, the Army’s recent proposal to “increase the intake of officers under Short Service Commission (SSC) and correspondingly reduce the number of permanent commission or regular commissioned officers”, the public needs to have a deep grasp of the army’s cadre.   A professional army’s cadre management is not the easiest of responsibilities; it needs to be known that the army’s cadre structure is hugely pyramidal, necessitating high wastage as promotions take place at different select ranks from Colonel upwards to Lt-Gen. With an average intake of approximately 2,000 commissioned officers every year and the majority being regular permanent cadre officers, only a few can be promoted (20-50 per cent) even at the first selection promotion level; this can be as early as 37 years of age and 14 years of service. The non-empanelled have to remain in the same rank till the age of 54, necessitating five to six rotations of placement in appointments. They conventionally cannot be placed in frontline units which are then under the command of officers junior to them. It’s a huge social and financial burden on the government due to no fault of the officers who are simply victims of the cadre structure. 

World position

Every professional army in the world follows a system of main and support cadres; the main being lean, with officers who are in service having undergone longer training duration and looking towards long careers, including consideration for higher promotions. The support cadre, on the other hand, with shorter initial training and by virtue therefore not aspiring for higher level command or staff responsibility, is a much larger cadre; the terms of service dictate only short-term engagement —  5, 10 or 15 years. The ratio, main to lean is ideally at 1:5. That reduces aspirants for higher training and promotion opportunities, improves promotion approval percentages and keeps available the younger support cadre officers to man lower command responsibilities in units.

Indian Army structure

The Indian Army’s officer cadre structure is skewed with main to support at 4:1, thus forcing a large number of non-empanelled officers in the system, all of whom are carried to the final retiring age and given pension, and a below par manning of units. The Ajai Vikram Singh Committee (AVSC) set up to implement the Group of Ministers recommendations after the Kargil Review Committee’s deliberations  recommended 1: 1.1 as the better ratio, probably realising that doing anything better than that would take many years; a detailed professional study by the College of Defence Management did help towards that recommendation. The current proposal for short service engagement of officers for duration of 10 or 14 years entails that they will be part of the support cadre. None will serve beyond rank of Major or Lt-Col. They will receive a golden handshake package of two months’ salary per completed year up to 10 years and four months’ salary for the same up to 14 years, thus sweetening the exit (maximum 36 months by one calculation). Training for post-exit jobs is also included in the recommendations, thus overcoming many of the earlier objections which spelt out the disadvantage to exiting officers at an age when they bore family responsibilities. The lump sum payments will entail high financial outgo, but far lesser than recurring pension liability.The advantages of 1:1.1 ratio are many 

• First, a younger officer profile in front line units will manifest.
• Second, the pension bill will reduce as the number of officers exiting with pension will greatly reduce. Progressively, the advantage will be even more as life expectancy keeps increasing.
• Third, lower numbers in non-empanelled ranks whose motivation can be managed through financial increments and reservation of some promotion vacancies a few years later than their approved colleagues.

Employment opportunities for exiting army officersThere exist two employment opportunities for exiting officers. 

• First, a Cabinet approval already exists for the implementation of ‘peel effect’, whereby officers exiting the army cadre are to be absorbed in fixed vacancies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and other government cadres. This is on the assumption that a large part of the exiting officers form an efficient segment of experience which cannot be absorbed by the Army’s pyramidal system and will contribute to other government services with minimal training. The approved decision is pending due to lack of energy in commitment for implementation.
• Second, another approved decision involving corporate responsibility (termed industrial deputation) with terms and conditions towards initial secondment with the government bearing expenses and ultimate absorption, has also not been implemented for lack of awareness and inability to take the industry on board.

The meeting was chaired by Pakistan PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

Islamabad, May 20

Pakistan’s top civil and military leaders have decided to give greater administrative and financial authority to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, the region through which the controversial $50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passes.During a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) — the top civil and military body—Sartaj Aziz, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission and the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs & Gilgit-Baltistan, yesterday briefed the Committee on the PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan reform proposals, an official statement said.The meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi reviewed these proposals and after detailed deliberations a consensus was reached on the “devolution of greater administrative authority and financial powers” to the PoK government and the Gilgit-Baltistan government, according to the statement.The details of administrative and financial reform have not been shared so far.However, there was also consensus over retention of the PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan Councils as advisory bodies; and the grant of a five-year tax holiday to Gilgit-Baltistan so as to create adequate incentives for the development of the region and bring it at par with the other areas of Pakistan.Gilgit-Baltistan is treated as a separate geographical entity by Pakistan. Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh are four provinces of Pakistan.India has termed as “entirely unacceptable” any possible attempt by Pakistan to declare the Gilgit-Baltistan region, bordering the disputed Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, as the fifth province. India has protested to China over the CPEC which goes through Gilgit-Baltistan region.It is believed that China’s concerns about the unsettled status of Gilgit-Baltistan prompted Pakistan to change its status.Earlier media reports had said Pakistan plans to elevate the constitutional status of the region to provide legal cover to the CPEC.The NSC also endorsed that FATA shall be merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa along with the introduction of the administrative and judicial institutional structures and laws of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the statement said.The Committee directed the ministries concerned to work out the constitutional, legal and administrative modalities for the merger in consultation with all parties in the Parliament.The meeting was attended by Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Defence & Foreign Affairs Khurram Dastgir Khan, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Gen Zubair Mahmood Hayat, Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of Naval and Air forces, ISI chief and other senior civil and military officials. — PTI

Una: A recruitment rally for entry to the Gorkha Regiment as general duty and professional duty soldiers will be held at the 14 Gorkha Training Centre, Subathu, in Shimla district on June 4 and 5.  According to an official press release, candidates should be either Indian citizens or Indian citizens with Nepalese origin  . OC

Seoul, May 16

North Korea threatened on Wednesday to cancel the forthcoming summit between leader Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump if Washington sought to push Pyongyang into giving up its nuclear arsenal.If the Trump administration “corners us and unilaterally demands we give up nuclear weapons we will no longer have an interest in talks and will have to reconsider whether we will accept the upcoming DPRK-US summit”, first vice foreign minister Kim Kye Gwan said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.Washington is pressing for Pyongyang’s complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation. But so far the North has not given any public indication of what concessions it is offering.At a summit with the South’s President Moon Jae-in last month, Kim Jong-un reaffirmed his commitment to the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.But the phrase is a diplomatic euphemism open to interpretation on both sides.“We already expressed our willingness for a denuclearised Korean peninsula and repeatedly declared that the US must end its hostile DPRK policy and nuclear threats as preconditions,” minister Kim said.In the past, Pyongyang has demanded the withdrawal of the US troops stationed in the South to protect it from its neighbour, and an end to Washington’s nuclear umbrella over its security ally.Kim Kye Gwan also blasted US National Security Adviser John Bolton, who has spoken of a ‘Libyan model’ for North Korean denuclearisation.It was a “highly sinister attempt to enforce the fate of Libya and Iraq upon the DPRK,” Kim said.“I cannot suppress anger over this US move and it is doubtful whether the US really wants to improve ties with the DPRK through dialogue and negotiation.”The North has long said it needs nuclear weapons to protect itself against a US invasion. After giving up his atomic programme, Libyan leader Moamer Khadafi was killed in an uprising backed by NATO bombing. AFP

Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, May 13

The mortal remains of Mandeep Kumar (27), a CRPF jawan who was killed in an encounter with militants in Pulwama (J&K) on Friday, were consigned to flames at his native Khudadpur village, near here, on Sunday.Senior CRPF and district administration officers were present. A contingent of the CRPF reversed arms and fired shots in the air as a mark of respect to the deceased.Mandeep Kumar, who was deployed in the valley with the 182nd battalion, was the sole breadwinner of his family.SDM Sakatar Singh Bal laid a wreath on behalf of the state government. CRPF officers said Mandeep faced militants bravely during the gunfight.

Bijay Sankar Bora

Tribune News Service

Guwahati, May 11

A jawan of Assam Rifles, identified as Rajinder Singh from Gurdaspur in Punjab, allegedly committed suicide by firing at his head from his 9 mm service pistol.His body was recovered in the wee hours of Friday by the city police from a Scorpio of the Assam Rifles which was parked on the road near the Assam Rifles transit camp in the city.The Officer-in-Charge of Dispur Police Station in the city, Hamangshu Das, said the jawan aged 36 was employed as a driver-constable in the force and used to drive the Scorpio vehicle assigned to a Deputy Inspector General of the paramilitary force.The police officer said it was suspected to be a case of suicide and there was bullet injury mark on the right side of the head of the jawan. Further investigation is on.

सुजानपुर/पठानकोट| गार्जियन ऑफ गवर्नेंस (जीओजी) जिला पठानकोट के प्रधान ब्रिगेडियर प्रह्लाद सिंह के नेतृत्व में टीम सुजानपुर में युवाओं को सेना, बीएसएफ व सीआरपीएफ में भर्ती के लिए निशुल्क में ट्रेनिंग देकर प्रशिक्षित कर रही है। ब्रिगेडियर प्रहलाद सिंह ने बताया कि युवाओं को प्रशिक्षित करने का मुख्य उद्देश्य युवाओं को भर्ती दौरान किसी प्रकार की परेशानी न हो। उनकी ओर से यह ट्रेनिंग कैंप लगभग एक माह से शुरू किया गया है ओर इस कैंप में कोई भी बच्चा सुबह 5 से 6 बजे तक बाग वाली माता रोड़ पर स्थित पुल नंबर-10 के समीप आकर उनके साथ संपर्क कर ट्रेनिंग ले सकता है। 

Jupinderjit Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 30

Joining the debate on the AFSPA, after its full and partial removal from two states, former Army Chief VP Malik stressed that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) is essential for the Army, which is put in a combat position in terrorism-hit areas.He was delivering a keynote address at a symposium on Daisaku Ikeda’s 2018 peace proposal, ‘Towards an era of human rights: Building a people’s movement’, organised by the Bharat Soka Gakkai here on Monday evening.Referring to the recent removal of the Act from Meghalaya and almost half of the Arunachal Pradesh, Gen VP Malik (Retd) said: “The Act is grossly misunderstood as it does not give the Army any liberty to indulge in violence. Believe me, the Army has its own mechanism to handle aberrations of violence, but without AFSPA, the Army will have no legal sanctity and constitutional protection to function in a strife-torn area.”Defending the soldiers, Malik called for the need to understand the human rights and self-defence rights of a soldier. “Recently in Kashmir, a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) of the Army was booked for firing at a mob of stone-pelters. No one bothered to talk about the human rights of the soldier and his right to defend himself from a mob,” he said.Malik said people must understand that peace comes in pieces and not as one whole package.As care for the elderly is an important part of the 2018 peace process, Malik said it was important for the elderly to have financial independence and to keep themselves busy.Earlier, Navraj Sandhu, Additional Chief Secretary with the Haryana government, spoke on the importance of women empowerment as a necessary tool for world peace.Inspirational speaker and former IAS officer Vivek Atray talked about the need to have peace within ourselves to attain world peace. He stressed that the education and empowerment of the girl child was a must for a healthy society, but upbringing of the boys as sensitive human beings where they respect women is also a necessity.Vishesh Gupta, Chairperson, Bharat Soka Gakkai, said the peace movement was the way forward to make the world free of violence.

Tribune News Service

Hisar, April 30

The statue of Kargil martyr Paviter Kumar was damaged by unidentified persons in Milakpur village of the district on Sunday night.The police said damage to the statue was noticed by Savitra Kumar, brother of the martyr. SHO Sadhu Ram said an FIR was registered in this connection .A police team inspected the site and started investigation.Paviter Kumar ha been recruited in the Jat Regiment. He died on July 9, 1999, during the Kargil War. His family members installed the statue in his memory in the village on October 5, 2000.