E-Paper
India’s 1st chief of army staff Gen Bipin Rawat to head dept of military affairs
The new department is an addition to the four existing verticals in the Union defence ministry —the departments of defence, defence production, defence research and development and ex-service welfare.
A gazette notification issued by the government on Monday created a new department of military affairs or Sainya Karta Vibhag that will be headed by India’s first chief of defence staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat.
The new department is an addition to the four existing verticals in the Union defence ministry —the departments of defence, defence production, defence research and development and ex-service welfare.
The government cleared the appointment of CDS on December 24 and appointed Rawat to the top post on Tuesday with effect from December 31. As CDS, Rawat will head the department of military affairs and act as the principal military adviser to the defence minister on all matters related to the tri-services.
Rawat will assume office on Wednesday after inspecting a tri-services guard of honour at the South Block lawns.
As announced by the government on December 24, the notification said the department of military affairs would handle the armed forces, integrated headquarters of the ministry of defence, the territorial army, procurement exclusive to services except capital acquisitions and jointness in procurement, training and staffing for the services through joint planning and integration of their requirements.
It said the department would also facilitate the restructuring of military commands for optimal utilisation of resources by bringing about jointness in operations, including through establishment of joint/theatre commands. It will also work towards promoting the use of indigenous equipment by the services at a time when the armed forces are heavily dependent on imported military hardware.
The department’s mandate is to work exclusively on matters related to the armed forces. The ministry said the existing department of defence will deal with larger issues pertaining to the defence of the country. The department of military affairs will be staffed by a mix of civilian and military officers.
While CDS will be in charge of tri-services organisations, their military command will be under the chief of the duly notified service, which has a predominant role in effective functioning of that specific tri-service organisation, the ministry said. However, tri-services agencies and commands related to cyber, space and special operations will be under the command of the CDS.
Just like the service chiefs, the CDS will be a member of the Defence Acquisition Council and the Defence Planning Committee. The appointment of the CDS was one of the most significant recommendations made by the K Subrahmanyam-led Kargil Review Committee (KRC) that was constituted in the immediate aftermath of the 1999 Kargil war to examine lapses that allowed Pakistani soldiers to occupy strategic heights, the initial sluggish Indian response, and suggest measures to strengthen national security. The KRC report was tabled in Parliament in February 2000.
A year later, in February 2001, a Group of Ministers (GoM), under then home minister LK Advani, submitted its report to then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The GoM was set up in April 2000 to review the national security system. It recommended that a CDS be appointed.
Successive governments failed to build political consensus on appointing a CDS. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. on August 15, announced the creation of the new post.
