File photo for representational purpose only.

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 27

The Indian Army has changed its promotion policy allowing Generals to serve longer tenures and officers to get promoted at a younger age to the ranks of Major General and Lieutenant General.The Army has also changed the rather stringent requirement of two-year residual service for selection as Army Commander. There are just seven such posts, including Vice Chief.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)The new policy announced on December 23 indicates that the Army has changed the sluggish promotion formula that dodges senior ranks. This in turn shortens the tenures to just 12 months at the level of the Divisional Commander, who is a Major General and has some 15,000-18,000 troops under his command. The same is the issue with the rank of Corps Commander, who is a Lieutenant General and gets only a 12-month tenure. This means too many changes.With the change of policy, the annual number of vacancies of promotion from Brigadier to Major General will be curtailed to 33, instead of the existing 44. In case of promotion from Major General to Lieutenant General, the vacancies will be curtailed from 12 to nine per annum. This will mean officers will have longer tenures of some 18 months and also that relatively younger people will be promoted while others get sidelined.In the Army, the rank of Major General is achieved by the age of 53 or 54, while the rank of Lieutenant General is on an average achieved by the age of 56. The target is to reduce this age profile by at least one year, ensuring longer tenures in top posts and continuity in policy-making.The policy of having a minimum of three years of residual service to become a Corps Commander shall remain unchanged.

Recent press reports inform us that a group of 100 serving officers of the ranks of Major and Lt Colonel of the Army Service Corps (ASC) have approached the Supreme Court for rectification of an act of discrimination.

They claim they are deployed on combatant tasks when the army needs them, but are denied benefits on promotion prospects which come with operational deployment, as their service is categorised as non combatant. While ignoring the legal jargon in the case, there is merit in their claim, as the army continues to follow outdated policies solely to protect a select lot. When considered for operational deployment or counter insurgency tasks, there is no such term as non combatant.

All who wear the uniform are combatants and function accordingly, irrespective of their arm or service. However, to differentiate when promotions and appointments are considered is gross injustice. For decades, the army has followed the policy of distinguishing between different arms and services, and has generally been biased towards the infantry. Officers belonging to the infantry and armoured corps are automatically considered for command of formations, while those from other arms including engineers, artillery, air defence and signals need to be selected based on their performance, despite being equally fit. Very few are approved.

Officers from services (ASC, Army Ordnance Corps (AOC) and Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (EME)) are not even entitled to be considered for such appointments, only because they belong to these units. The logic conveyed is that the fighting arms, implying the armoured and infantry are at the forefront of battle, hence only they are capable of commanding formations. This logic may not be valid any longer for a variety of reasons.

Firstly, all officers, irrespective of arm or service are trained in common institutions and establishments in operations of war, in addition to specialised courses of their specific arm or service. During this period, there is no bias towards arm or service. Secondly, all major courses which determine higher appointments including the Higher Command course, Higher Defence Management course and the National Defence Course are attended by the crème de la crème of the batch from all arms and services.

The training and exposure is common; therefore to subsequently differentiate between officers is incorrect. Thirdly, there are claims that officers from the services are not exposed to operations. This is incorrect. Officers from the services have also been at the forefront of operations in the last few decades. They presently undergo two years of infantry attachment soon after commission. They are the front runners in operations of Infantry battalions.

In fact, the services presently claim more Ashoka and Param Vir Chakra awardees amongst the officer category than do Infantry regiments. The nation has fought no war since Kargil. Even in Kargil, many young officers who fought, laid down their lives and were decorated for bravery were from the services, mainly the AOC and ASC. In the valley, services officers continue to operate and produce results as an integral part of Rashtriya Rifles and infantry battalions and have been decorated for their bravery and performance on numerous occasions.

Every officer in the present environment, irrespective of arm or service, undergoes a minimum of one tenure in the valley or the North-East battling militancy. In addition, when posted to any establishment or unit in insurgency-affected areas, which is almost as frequent as the infantry, they are irrespective of appointment given additional tasks, including road opening or patrolling. Thus, operational experience at the junior level is the same.

Claiming they lack similar experience at staff levels, again a reason for denying rightful appointments, is because of the army’s faulty policies which prevents their getting the desired exposure. This bias implies a reduction of vacancies in senior ranks which translates into making them lose out on promotional avenues. Such a narrowminded approach of the top army brass leads to capable officers losing out only because they were commissioned into a service. Simultaneously, this faulty policy has the army bypassing qualified and capable officers.

At the stage of commissioning, a cadet is asked to list the arm or service of his choice. The final allotment is made on vacancies and his seniority in the training institute. Many never get their desired choice. To deny an officer a rightful future solely because he was commissioned into a service is wrong. After all he wears the same uniform, is trained in the same institutes and fights alongside his colleagues from other arms when he is so tasked.

There has been no report of any service failing in its role in operations or counter insurgency. This narrow-minded outlook of the army, protecting a select few, while denying equal rights to others, has affected morale and cohesion between officers of different arms and services. Officers from the services have begun questioning army headquarters on their discrimination.

Earlier, over three hundred officers from the services had approached the courts to offset a skewed promotion policy put in place after the Kargil war, when the army decided to reduce the ages of command.

They finally won that battle in the Supreme Court and have now been compelled to take up another. The third largest army in the world and the most respected institution of the nation is being sued by its own for discrimination and favouritism.

The hierarchy is aware of its shortcomings, but is unwilling to change. It is too steeped in trying to protect a select few, while ignoring others, only because they are serving in arms and services, other than the infantry. It may again have to be the courts that compel the army to change and become just and fair to all those who wear the uniform and swear allegiance to the nation.

After all, they too have done their bit in protecting the nation. Army headquarters must revisit its skewed policies and amend its biases internally, before it is embarrassed by the courts and publicly questioned.

(The writer is a retired Major-General of the Indian Army.)

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman salutes the all-women crew of INSV Tarini that will attempt to circumnavigate globe, in Goa. PTI

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 10

Within three days of taking over as the Defence Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman got a hands-on feel of separate military operations at Barmer and Goa while she also flagged off an all-women circumnavigation sailing crew of the Navy.Sitharaman visited the IAF forward base at Uttarlai, Barmer, and interacted with fighter pilots and airmen at the base. She was briefed about the role of the base and nature of its air operations.It’s for the first time that any Defence Minister has visited Uttarlai after December 30, 2001, the Ministry of Defence said.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Earlier in the day, Sitharaman interacted with naval fighter pilots at the shore-based test facility at Dabolim, Goa. In the afternoon, she flagged-off Indian Naval Sailing Vessel Tarini (INSV Tarini) with an all-women crew that will attempt to circumnavigate the globe.The crew is expected to return to Goa in April 2018, on completion of the voyage. The expedition will be covered in five legs, with stopovers at four ports — Fremantle (Australia), Lyttleton (New Zealand), Port Stanley (Falklands) and Cape Town (South Africa).Terming it a historic day, Sithraman said: “Globally, our women are going to stand out for something which most navies of the world would not have even thought of.” She appreciated the Indian Navy and the mentors for inspiring, motivating and training these women.INSV Tarini is being skippered by Lt Commander Vartika Joshi, and the crew comprises Lt Commanders Pratibha Jamwal, P Swathi, and Lieutenants S Vijaya Devi, B Aishwarya and Payal Gupta. The expedition is titled ‘Navika Sagar Parikrama’.

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 7A fire broke out at the Army’s ammunition depot in Bathinda district of Punjab early on Thursday.There was no report of any casualty in the incident.”Fire broke out at the Army’s ammunition depot here at 5.10 am. It was contained by 6.30 am,” Bathinda Deputy Commissioner Diprava Lakra said.”There is no loss of life in the incident,” he said.The assessment of the damage will be done by the Army, he said.Short circuit was stated to be the reason behind the fire, the DC said. —With PTI inputs 

Jhansi (UP), August 28A carton containing smoke bombs was stolen from a special train carrying Army personnel, the police said today. The sensational matter came to light weeks after a Jhansi collectorate clerk, who was under the scanner of the Uttar Pradesh Police’s Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), was booked for allegedly leaking information to suspected Pakistan-based spies, including those associated with the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).The train from Pulgaon in Maharashtra, which was on its way to Pathankot in Punjab, had stopped outside the Jhansi railway station yesterday when the Army personnel detected the seal of one of the coaches broken and a carton containing smoke bombs missing, Circle Officer (CO) Sharad Pratap Singh said here.A case in this regard had been lodged with the Government Railway Police (GRP) and an investigation was on, he said, adding that the incident was said to have taken place between Bina in Madhya Pradesh and the Jhansi railway station as the train had taken several brief halts while crossing the stretch.Earlier this month, Raghavendra Ahirwar, a stenographer posted at the Jhansi collectorate, was booked under different sections of the Official Secrets Act (OSA) for allegedly passing on classified information about the movement of Army units at the Babina Cantonment to a “mysterious” caller who identified himself as “Major Yadav”.During the investigation, sleuths found out that “Major Yadav” used to make Internet calls to Ahirwar and had spoofed a local number through a SIM box. The spy, who was interested in the details of the Army units that had reached the Babina Cantonment for firing practice, was reportedly in touch with Ahirwar since 2009.Ahirwar was never able to call “Major Yadav” back as the calls from the latter were always placed over the internet and only nine digits, instead of 10, flashed on his mobile screen.“Major Yadav” had reportedly told him that because of the confidential nature of his job, he was not authorised to receive phone calls.The sleuths detained him for questioning and seized his cell phone, computer, hard disk and pen drive. The bank accounts of Ahirwar and his close relatives were also scanned to detect any “unusual” transaction. Ahirwar was not placed under arrest since no proof of money changing hands surfaced during the preliminary probe. — PTI

The flag meeting at Chakan da Bagh on Wednesday. Tribune Photo

Amir Karim Tantray

Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 23

The Indian and Pakistani armies today held a battalion commander-level flag meeting at Chakan Da Bagh in Poonch to defuse tension at the Line of Control (LoC).The meeting was held in the backdrop of ceasefire violations and casualties to civilians in the past several months.The truce violations on the LoC have affected the cross-LoC bus service and trade. The firing even forced the Poonch administration to suspend the LoC bus service. The stranded tourists from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir were sent home via Muzaffarabad in Uri recently. The PoK residents were stranded here for three months.The Public Relations Officer of the 16 Corps said the battalion commander-level flag meeting at Chakan Da Bagh in the Poonch sector started at 11 am today and lasted for 50 minutes.“The meeting was held in the backdrop of numerous ceasefire violations and casualties to the civilian population in the past several months,” the PRO said.“The Indian delegation highlighted abetment and support of the Pakistan army to cross-border terrorism, sniping actions on the LoC and deliberate targeting of civilians during ceasefire violations. The resumption of trade and transit through Chakan Da Bagh was also discussed,” he said.“The meeting lasted for 50 minutes in a cordial atmosphere. Both sides mutually agreed to exercise restraint on the LoC and keep the channels of communication between the local commanders open. Both sides also agreed to institute mechanisms to ensure durable peace and tranquillity along the LoC,” the PRO said.The meeting is expected to pave the way for resumption of the cross-LoC trade and bus service through the Poonch-Rawlakote route.