New Delhi: In a first ever exercise after Independence, the Ministry of Defence in consultation with the Indian Army has decided to reform the Army in a planned manner with the first phase involving redeployment and restructuring of approximately 57,000 posts of officers/JCOs/ORs and civilians, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said today. Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which was apprised of the decisions, Mr Jaitley said,’major reforms have been approved after an extensive consultation with all stakeholders.’ The major reforms approved by the Defence Ministry include optimisation of Signals Establishments to include Radio Monitoring Companies, Corps Air Support Signal Regiments, Air Formation Signal Regiments, Composite Signal Regiments and merger of Corps Operating and Engineering Signal Regiments and restructuring of repair echelons in the Army to include Base Workshops, Advance Base Workshops and Static/Station Workshops in the field Army.
The reforms also include redeployment of Ordnance echelons to include Vehicle Depots, Ordnance Depots and Central Ordnance Depots apart from streamlining inventory control mechanisms; Better utilization of Supply and Transport echelons and Animal Transport units; Closure of Military Farms and Army postal establishments in peace locations; Enhancement in standards for recruitment of clerical staff and drivers in the Army; Improving the efficiency of the National Cadet Corps. ‘Implementation has begun with the decision of the Cabinet Committee on Security to close 39 military farms in a time bound manner,’Mr Jaitley said. The Ministry of Defence had constituted a Committee of Experts under the Chairmanship of Lt Gen (Retd) (Dr.) DB Shekatkar with a mandate to recommend measures for enhancing of Combat Capability and Rebalancing Defence Expenditure of the Armed Forces with an aim to increase “teeth to tail ratio”. Mr Jaitley said that these reforms will be completed in all respects by December 31, 2019. Restructuring by the Indian Army is aimed at enhancing Combat Capability in a manner that the officers/JCOs/ORs will be used for improving operational preparedness and civilians will be redeployed in different wings of the Armed Forces for improving efficiency.
