Army Headquarters In New Delhi To Undergo Major Rejig

The world’s second largest army is ready for the biggest ever change in the organisational structure of its Delhi-based headquarters.

The changes have been proposed right from the Army chief down to the whole setup in Delhi, which frames and approves policies to defend the country. It was in 2018 that the Indian Army started four holistic studies, in the biggest exercise after independence to “transform itself into a more lethal force to meet the desired offensive and defensive capabilities of modern warfare by undergoing a complete transformation.”

The studies were on restructuring the Army headquarters, reorganising the Army, a cadre review of officers, and enhancing the colour service of soldiers.

The current restructuring will take into account future requirements and ways to make the military lean and mean.

The study on Army headquarters has proposed a major reorganisation to optimise the posting of officers in various directorates and branches. In all, 1,332 officers, including the Chief of Army Staff, are posted at Army HQ, and the proposal is to trim the number to 1,203 officers, freeing 129 young officers to be deployed in the field.

The maximum number of officers is being released from the Information System Directorate, which looks after the net-centric vision of the Army. It has 94 officers of various ranks, including the Director General, who is a Lieutenant General. It is proposed to have 50 officers.

Next is the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers, where 73 officers will serve and 28 will be released after the proposal is accepted. The Military Training Directorate will come down to 28 officers from 54, the Military Intelligence headquarters will be reduced to 81 officers from 99, and the Military Operations HQ will come down to 56 officers from 70.

Some offices will see an increase in their staff strength.

A new post of Deputy Chief of Army Staff has to be created who will oversee the work of Military Operations, Military Intelligence and Operational Logistics. This is meant to reduce the burden on the vice chief’s office.

Source: NIE

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