Amid the raging second wave of the pandemic, a controversy has erupted within India’s military establishment, specifically in the medical fraternity of the armed forces, over the removal of Major General Vasu Vardhan, the Commandant of Delhi’s Army Base Hospital. The development has exposed the cracks in India’s civil-military ties at a time when the country needs a united effort to fight the virus.
Major General Vardhan’s transfer as a “second officer” to the Army’s Research and Referral Hospital came as a surprise since he was on the verge of retirement, and had service left till August this year. Considered within the military’s medical fraternity a very able officer, Vardhan is a pulmonologist—the medical experts leading India’s fight against the coronavirus.
At a time when the armed forces are calling back retired military doctors to ramp up their capacity to fight the overwhelming Covid case load, the Army termed Vardhan’s transfer as “routine”. But those in the military won’t buy this. They know the rejig is far from routine.
In its second statement on the issue, the Army said that Major General Vardhan was posted out as part of an “HR Management Plan” even as the doctor was also treating patients, besides carrying out overall administration. So much to justify a move that certainly seemed out of turn. Noting that he retires in three months, the Army said that his deputy, Brig Sandeep Tareja, will also be moving out of the hospital as he has been promoted to the rank of Major General.
“This will not be in the best interest of the establishment that is treating Covid patients,” the Army’s statement said, adding that another officer, Maj Gen S.K. Singh, has been appointed as the commandant of the base hospital “so that there is adequate overlap and continuity in the top hierarchy of the hospital in these challenging times”.
There a number of speculations surrounding why he was transferred out, some of which are simply unbelievable, to say the least. I am not getting into such allegations/explanations because all is just mere speculation and hearsay.
Whatever be the reason behind Vardhan’s transfer, two things are certain – the move is not routine and that it was not part of any “HR Management Plan”.
Also read: Time’s running out. Armed forces must be sent to rural India to lead Covid fight
A problematic administrative hierarchy
While one would assume that the military’s medical Corps would be reporting to the uniformed personnel, the fact is that the Directorate General of Armed Forces Service (DGAFMS) reports to the Department of Defence, which is headed by the defence secretary. It is ironic that the medical wing that takes care of the health of the armed forces reports to the civilian administration.
With India now having a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and Secretary, Department of Military Affairs (DMA), the DGAFMS, a rank held by a three-star officer, should be moved away from the civilian set-up and brought under the armed forces’ administration.
It was the Dr B.C. Roy committee in 1947 that had recommended integration of the three medical services and medical research in the three respective services. The committee suggested that there should be three medical branches of the three services and a Supreme Controller of all the three medical services — Director General of the Armed Forces Medical Services (DGAFMS) — who would be the advisor to the President or the defence minister vis a vis the medical needs of the military.
In a way, it was the first tri-service command per se and had to be placed under the Ministry of Defence since it could not come under any one service chief.
Also read: What’s DGAFMS, Indian military’s medical wing leading the fight against Covid
Bring DGAFMS under the forces
With the formation of the DMA and CDS, the DGAFMS should have been moved instantly under the armed forces. When the transfer of work was done between the defence secretary and the newly created DMA, the medical Corps was left out. The civilian bureaucracy continued its hold over the medical wing of the armed forces even as they handed over all day-to-day matters to the DMA. The military should have objected and sought the transfer of the medical services too.
Lt Gen Prakash Menon (retd), former military adviser, National Security Council Secretariat, says in his column for ThePrint: “It is an open secret that due to structural proximity, over a period of time, the higher military medical fraternity has established a reciprocal and cosy relationship with the civilian power centres in the Ministry of Defence. The civilians are believed to be provided mostly unauthorised access to medical care, especially in the premier Research & Referral (R&R) Hospital in Delhi. Reciprocally, postings, promotions and approval for premature retirement are taken care of.”
The movement of DGAFMS under the armed forces, if implemented, will see resistance. Many in the AFMS directorate will object to them being brought under the DMA/CDS. One ground of objection, as told to me by a now-retired senior military medical official, is that the DGAFMS will not become independent in this new arrangement. I wonder what ‘independence’ is being referred to here, considering the DGAFMS currently reports to the defence secretary. Here, I am not saying defence minister intentionally because even the CDS and the service chiefs report to him and he is the overall head. So whether it is the Defence Secretary or the CDS, the defence minister takes the final call.
Another argument put forth by some in defence of a DGAFMS status quo is that if the reporting boss is changed to secretary DMA/CDS, then it will be a downgrade as far as the hierarchy is concerned because the defence secretary is above secretary, DMA.
Yes, there is no doubt that the new order of precedence, if implemented, will have its own share of problems, but the bottom line of my argument is that a department responsible for the health of a soldier in the field and in peace should only report to the military. From policy formations for the medical side to postings and promotions, the DMA/CDS should have administrative control.
There are numerous stories in the military circles about postings, transfers and promotion of medical officers, being influenced by the “cosy relationship”, as Lt Gen Prakash Menon (retd) describes it.
I am not saying everything is good under the military. The military has its own share of issues but then they should be controlling their own medical Corps.
Also read: India’s armed forces stave off deadly 2nd Covid wave thanks to vaccines, strict protocols
Why Maj Gen Vardhan’s transfer is wrong
There are reasons why questions are being raised on Maj Gen Vardhan’s transfer.
Even if one is to believe that the officer, allegedly lacked certain administrative skills in a crisis situation, his abrupt transfer is not justified, especially when he had few months to retire and was working non-stop despite his mother being down with Covid in Lucknow and eventually dying.
An example from the LAC standoff shows how the military plans in advance to ensure no disruption is caused by a sudden change of hands. When the 14 Corps Commander Harinder Singh, who was leading the talks with the People’s Liberation Army, was to be moved to IMA, Lt Gen P. G. K. Menon was sent in advance and took part in at least two rounds of the India-China Corps Commander level meetings before taking charge fully. A similar arrangement could have been worked out in the Base Hospital’s case too.
Maj General Vardhan’s transfer would have not been noticed had it been a non-Covid period. But then timing is significant and hence, it is being rightly questioned in the military circles.
Views are personal.
(Edited by Anurag Chaubey)