Latest rules say Lt Colonels will not be promoted as ‘time-scale Colonels’ by the Army if their mental health is impacted by alcoholism or any form of substance abuse.
New Delhi: Lieutenant Colonels who are not in the best of psychological health because of alcoholism or any form of substance abuse will no longer be promoted as ‘time-scale Colonels’ by the Army, no matter how exceptionally they perform, ThePrint has learnt.
Time-scale Colonels are those Army officers who are given the rank after completing 26 years in service. Lt Colonels are eligible for promotion as Colonels after 16-18 years in service, but often miss the bus owing to a lack of vacancies or because they fail to clear the promotion board. These candidates are promoted as time-scale Colonels after 26 years.
Time-scale Colonels write the letters ‘TS’ against their rank.
The amended promotion rules were issued by the Personnel and Services Department of the Army last month.
The bar on promotions, a top Army source told ThePrint, will not apply if the cause of psychological issues is determined to be something else, like a stressful home situation, the loss of a loved one, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The psychological scale
The mental health of Army officers is determined through a five-point scale that runs from S1 to S5, where S1 constitutes the fittest one can be. These are ascertained by military psychiatrists. Qualification as S5, Army officials explained, leads to disqualification.
According to the Army’s tweaked promotion rules, Lt Colonels found to be in the “S2” category of psychological or mental health because of alcoholism or substance abuse will not be eligible for promotion, even if they have good Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs), which document a candidate’s performance, and are medically fit otherwise (vision, hearing, overall physiology, etc).
A steep pyramid
Colonels constitute the fifth rung of the hierarchy among Army officers, after Lieutenant, Captain, Major and Lieutenant Colonel.
The first four ranks are determined by the time personnel spend in the force: They are commissioned as Lieutenants, become Captains after two years of service, Majors after six years, and Lieutenant Colonels after 13 years.
After that, the hierarchy becomes steep, and promotion is incumbent on vacancies — when a Colonel is promoted as Brigadier or retires.
Lt Colonels thus get two kinds of promotions: One is ‘selection grade’ promotion, which takes place after a candidate completes 16 to 18 years of commissioned service. Candidates at this stage have to appear before a promotion board. As many as 50 per cent of Lt Colonels are not promoted as Colonels after the promotion board.
Those who are not empanelled as Colonels at this time are promoted as time-scale Colonels after 26 years of commissioned service, subject to consistently high ACRs and medical fitness.
So far, promotion as time-scale colonels was considered relatively more relaxed.
Another senior Army official said the measure was meant to put emphasis on the health of Army personnel.
“Most Lt Colonels miss being empanelled not because of reasons under their control, but because of lack of vacancies,” the official said. “This move will keep them motivated to take care of their health and fitness.”
Psychological health remains an important concern for armed forces personnel, who work under extreme work conditions and stress. This also reflects in the number of suicides involving military personnel in India.
Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre said in a written reply to Parliament this year that 104 military personnel committed suicide in 2018.