New Delhi: In a first, officers from the Army, Navy and the Air Force will get posted to the Defence Ministry as Joint Secretaries with the newly-created Department of Military Affairs (DMA) under Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat moving a proposal for it.
Gen Rawat is also working hard to give a presentation on the working of the services to the Parliamentary Standing Committee meeting starting February 17.
“The proposal for appointment of the three joint secretaries of the DMA including Major General Narayanan, Rear Admiral RK Dhir and Air Vice Marshal SK Jha have been sent to the government for final approval,” Defence Ministry sources told ANI.
Sources said that the DMA has also sent a proposal for appointment of Lieutenant General rank officers for appointment as Additional Secretaries there.
The CDS also has Indian Administrative Services officers including Rajiv Singh Thakur and Shantanu working in the DMA, along with other civilian staff, from the Armed Forces Headquarters cadre who man important positions in there.
The CDS has also divided the work between the civilian and military joint secretaries in a manner where the IAS officers are handling the work mostly related to where they have to deal with other ministries and civilian departments.
The parliamentary work is being done by the IAS officers where the answers for Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha questions are being coordinated by them and they will also prepare for standing committee meetings, sources said.
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Most of the work related to three services of the Defence Ministry has come to the DMA while the leftover residual work has been assigned to Joint Secretary (Armed Forces) in the Department of Defence.
The DMA has also moved quickly in after being set up on January 1 and has cleared multiple files including the ones about the appointment of Army Vice Chief and field commanders.
The files related to the promotion of officers are also getting cleared in quick time by the DMA, they said.
The DMA is a new department is an addition to the four existing verticals in the Union Defence Ministry — the departments of defence, defence research, defence production and development and ex-service welfare.
The notification said that the new department 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 will facilitate the restructuring of military commands for optimal utilisation of resources by bringing about jointness in operations, including through the establishment of joint/theatre commands.
With inputs from ANI
Also read: India’s joint military theatre command process to finish in 3 years, says CDS Bipin Rawat
That’s why God didn’t give horns to horses. What so ever, if you want to have such a creature contained, one must have enough audacity to catch it by horn or tactfully tie the two legs behind.
The reason is that IAS officers don’t want to work under CDS. There is a massive undercurrent in IAS lobby regarding this. Why would army officers otherwise be required to join as secretaries?
ANDwivedi Ji
Indian Armed forces are facing shortage at mid and lower level. At higher lever there are a lot officer not getting promotion despite being eligible only because of lack of vacancies. Posting them as Joint Secretary or Additional Secretary would create more vacancies for Armed forces officer at higher level.
I hope you understand it
So many army officers deployed in other departments like BRO, MES, DRDO etc but army still bleeping for shortage of officers in Army. If army officers shortage in Army why they are sending his officers on deputation. Hence Only IPA should be deployed for joint secretary post in DMA
This is the beginning of combatisation of def. Ministry. It is good because decision making will become faster. As a matter of fact specialist ministries have their own cadre like external affaires and railways. Unique functioning of armed forces also need similar induction armed forces mil and civilian cadres in defence ministry.
eh????????? in India military will be encroaching civilian territory???