New Delhi: The Indian Army’s proposal to shift the Army Training Command (ARTRAC) from Shimla to Meerut is now with the Ministry of Defence, awaiting a final clearance, ThePrint has learnt.
A confusion had arisen when, during the last Parliament session, Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik had responded with a categorical “No, sir” in the Rajya Sabha to a question on whether the government had decided to relocate the ARTRAC.
There was speculation in some quarters on whether the government was undecided on the move, or had already said no to it. However, Army sources said the proposal had not reached the ministry at the time, which is why Naik said no to the question.
“This should settle the confusion. The Army is clear about shifting the ARTRAC, but the proposal is with the Ministry of Defence awaiting a final clearance,” an Army source said.
Set up on the lines of the US Army Training and Doctrine Command, the ARTRAC is one of the seven commands of the Indian Army, tasked with formulating training modules, disseminating doctrines of warfare in “fields of strategy, operational art, tactics, logistics, training and human resource development”.
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Why the move has been proposed
Shifting the ARTRAC to Meerut is part of the Army’s ambitious plan to restructure the force. The move will provide better infrastructure for the proposed expansion of the ARTRAC’s roles, and better connectivity to the Army Headquarters at Delhi.
“The ARTRAC would have the role of supervising all training activities spread all over the country. The officers should be able to fly out for inspections and checks, which would be difficult from Shimla,” a senior Army officer said. “Shimla is also getting increasingly crowded. It is about costs and administrative constraints as well.”
Apart from shifting its location, the Army plans to restructure the ARTRAC by merging the Directorate General of Military Training (DGMT) into it, as both have similar functions. Other proposed structural changes include creating two different training wings and a separate validation wing for approving training standards.
At present, the DGMT is responsible for the execution of training plans for operations as well as for joint training. About 100 officers would need to be shifted from Army HQ for this.
ThePrint had earlier reported that the plan to shift ARTRAC out of Shimla was facing stiff resistance from politicians and retired officers in Himachal Pradesh, including the state’s CM, who questioned the rationale of the move.
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