New Delhi: As part of its restructuring efforts to meet the modern needs and to cut down flab, the Army Education Corps (AEC) is undergoing a revamp with two new verticals being raised to cater to a key demand, and is likely to be renamed ‘Army Empowerment Corps’, ThePrint has learnt.
While the education vertical will be retained, two new verticals — language and finance — are likely to be added into the AEC. The restructuring and renaming are still under talks and a final decision is yet to be made, it is learnt.
Currently, the AEC educates army personnel in skills such as map reading, three stages of which are a prerequisite for promotions for non-commissioned officers (NCOs). It also extends academic training at pre-commission training academies, capability development in foreign languages, military music, and handling of RTI cases, among others.
While the Shekatkar Committee in 2016 recommended that the Corps should be shut down, the Army has decided to retain some strength of the AEC.
The adding of two new verticals will be done within the sanctioned strength and no new recruiting will take place, a source in the defence establishment said.
The 4,500-personnel strong AEC comprises officers, junior commissioner officers (JCOs) and NCOs.
The plan is to have specialised individuals manning crucial fields such as language and finance, which is not the case currently.
“The decision to replace the word ‘education’ with ‘empowerment’ made sense because by introducing two new verticals, you are actually empowering the field commanders to do their job, whether it is in education, language or finance,” the source told ThePrint.
The AEC, which came into being in June 1921, was initially known as the Royal Army Education Corps. Its name later changed to the Indian Army Education Corps in 1947 and then the Army Education Corps in 1950. Currently, the AEC is headed by a Major General, who is posted at Army Headquarters.
The Corps was formed to address the widespread illiteracy among the Indian soldiers in the initial years. With the rise in education levels, the AEC no longer needs to give out basic education to personnel, prompting the Army to open new avenues suitable for present times.
The source said that it is the need of the hour to “rebrand” the AEC and “repurpose” the personnel to learn languages that help the Army tackle the border situations better.
The proposal may see officers, JCOs and NCOs being recruited in the education branch initially, and later be allowed to choose between either the finance or language vertical.
While officers and JCOs from the finance branch will be posted at various headquarters, those from the language vertical will be at the borders depending on their language expertise.
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Language
According to official estimates, the Indian Army currently needs translators and interpreters in thousands just for Mandarin. “The need of raising a language vertical has become important with the rising China challenge at India’s northern border,” the source said.
Training for other languages such as Burmese and Urdu — extensively spoken on the border with Myanmar and Pakistan — will also be given to personnel.
At present, with units undergoing routine turnovers on the borders, the unit facing China may go to a peace posting to a completely different state, where the Mandarin language skills are no longer used after nearly 10-12 months’ training.
Finance
The raising of a finance vertical becomes critical because, as there is no such specialised branch in any of the headquarters, the source said.
Staff officers posted in corps, command and army headquarters do not have specialised knowledge regarding finance. The colonels, posted at different headquarters, come from different branches including the fighting arms — infantry, artillery, army aviation corps and armoured corps.
So far, the norm has been to draw colonel and Lt colonel-level officers and give them finance duties in different headquarters across the country.
With the larger restructuring of the Army, it is also being discussed whether the officers from the finance branch should be placed at divisional and brigade headquarters, as and when the Corps starts to grow. At the brigade level, instead of an officer, a JCO may head the finance department.
Once the Indian Army implements and stabilises the changes, the colonel (financial planning) will always be from the AEC. This will also enable the army officers to do different courses within their area of expertise. “It takes time for personnel coming from field postings to understand the Delegation of Financial Powers to Defence Services (DFPDS), a book for financial powers of the armed forces,” the source said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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