The Indian planning system did not encourage individuals based on ‘what they knew’, but on ‘whom they knew’. Many left for countries that recognised their talent.
The new law, which the government has framed as a moral duty, forced major platforms like Dream11 & Zupee to shut operations, wiping out hundreds of crores in market capitalisation.
Joint Doctrine for Special Forces Operations, released Wednesday, also outlines plans for the future expansion of AFSOD and the creation of Joint Service Training Institutes.
Putin sees this as a victory. Europeans have decided to deal with Trump on his terms for the sake of the larger Western alliance. We look at the lessons for us in India.
I have great respect for Gen Panag.Gen Rawat seems to be playing to the political bosses.Doval is his mentor,I so think.I was GC under Lt Gen L S Rawat in 1962 in I M A .He was different in many ways,except the looks,from the present CO A S.I suspect that the Gen has political ambitions.
What was Gen Panag’s contribution to the army. Apart from side profile photos of officers, physical fitness and conducting physical tests at high altitude. Any visionary steps taken then. Zilch. But its so easy to find faults.
The Rawat Doctrine is purely theoritical. Organisational changes are required based on operation requirements. What has changed and in which ops , that Gen Rawat wants to change the present structures which is time tested and evolutionary in nature? Nothing! Hence, why even talk of changes just because you are failing even in providing basic upgrades in the armed forces?
Talking of RIMA, why template Chinese philosophy which is no where applicable to India where we are not even sure what we want the Army for?
Are we forgetting the lessons from the last time we saw a similar “lean and mean” army concept of one of our chiefs which gave nightmares to the commanders on ground who did not find sufficient troops to man even weapon stations during OP PARAKRAM!
BOOTS on ground for an Army with lowest technological thersh hold is a MUST and Rawat’s doctrine is bound to back fire unless stopped NOW! It is ill conceived and poorly timed |
possibly NOT due to military but other compulsions.
I think if there is no budjet, then all soldiers should be sent back to home…….
There is budjet for scams, for distributing scholarships to fraud students, there is budjet for SC, STs to distribute lot of money in different ways, there is budjet for sadbhawna in J&K and for other states there is budjet for political advertisements……. and many more.
But there is no budjet for defence…..
Very disgusting…
Dear Gen Panag,
You are absolutely right Sir, I must compliment you for that.
You being an EC GOC-in-C of an Operational Command very well aware that how Fd Fmns work. Playing with Bde & Div like Fd Fmns by bringing Such High Changes *RIMA* in your words isn’t warranted at this juncture. There are several other but much more important aspects which are being sidelined instead..! I am listening out a few:
1. Poor (diminishing) Physical, Professional and Moral Standards of Triservices esp Army.
2. High level of Corruption in certain Services like MES, Procurement of Medicines, Supply Services, Tendering of Ordinance Privided Items to name a few.
3. Increasing Offr Men gap.
4. Drastically changing behaviour of young soldiers towards their superiors.
In my opinion a Senior Offr like you should come together and firm an Advisory Body to COAS for any such proposal
To start let me compliment the COAS for atleast attempting to bring about a paradigm shift in the thought process. Budgetary constraints are a major player in futuristic planning. Has the def min/secy given the green flag to COAS is neither known to Gen Panag and us and it is on Know to basis and cannot and will not be made public. Many of us in this very transparent army know each others contribution and the lesser said the better it is. Lean,mean and thin fighting machine, is what the Indian Army should strive to be. Perfecting itself to operate in all terrains and in all kind of operations. Speed,max impact and flexibility is the key. Margins are jingoism and hyperbole we need to make that soldier on ground to believe that he is the best. I think that’s what the COAS believes too.
Col Sunil Kotnala author ‘Holy Warriors’
Criticism is okay. But what is the contribution of Gen Panag whose thrust was only BPET/ PPT and photos of Offrs from all angles .
Let the Chief do what he feels right , the way we all have done without appreciating any interference from previous commanders.
One thing for sure out criticism will not change the mind of the Chief. You and me have done our bit and let the present lot do what type feel is right , unless asked for our views.
Gen Rawat must understand that the downsizing of the Civilian cadre is required desperately. Take a walk outside South block and Sena Bhawan during winters. You can see a hundred odd civilian employees from these offices sitting outside and basking in the sun. Twenty percent civilians are redundant because of zero output. Ask a Dir/DDG, the poor guy is dependant only on his uniformed clk who works overtime w/o any complaint.
Serious study is required to downsize the civilians from AHQ cadre and other organisations in India like DRDO, Ordance Factories, Base Workshops and MES etc. I personally believe that 50 odd thousand posts can be removed w/o affecting the existing output.
When will a chief look into civil upper end jobs created at the expense of military. What ever money is saved in the process gets utilised by MoD. Before making drastic changes there is a need to carry out organisational audit
Of the ministry. A structure that has stood the test of time can only be contemporised and not broken down because Babudum wants it.
This is the same media which said “Surgical Strike” was just ALLEGED and demanded proof. So better keep your nose away from our Army… Better… Propaganda every where… Nice try
Threat perception from an adversary and possibility of war-full scale or otherwise as an end in itself or to achieve some strategic goal through war should be the start point of any such consideration.Notwithstanding the history of wars with our neighbours some basic questions beg attention-
Till when our borders will remain volatile?
All being nuclear players is all out war a real possibility?
Can the adversary overrun our hinterland and occupy territory or mostly the war will remain limited to border?
Is border management the only issue needing attention or role beyond borders is also any larger consideration ?
As a lay person perception, manpower decisions should be apparently dependent on above questions and therefore Govt must be seen in the forefront of such decisions and not any service Chief .
Sir reduce the strength of corps which are in army bcz the unit task could be perform with very less manpower… Rest of them are showing busy with the work what is not that much improtant…… And the work may also done by the civilians
Reforms just to downsize the forces just due to budgetary constraints are not required for a country like India which has historically unfriendly neighborhood. Instead of this, the fast acquisitions of modern hardware without red tapisms must be the priority.
The Print is advising the general as if the blog writer is an expert in defense. The Print should desist from advising the army and rather spread positive news for the readers. News with leftist orientation will be discarded and rejected outright.
Even the USA with all its Technology came unstuck due to manpower constraints and not having the capacity to sustain “boots on the ground” in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Their impending pull out negates the very raison d’être for US Intervention in both these countries at a high cost in American lives, wherein the ISIS and Taliban will stage a comeback and renew the use of the soil of both nations as a base for Anti US Terrorist Operations, denial of which was the justification for invasion and regime change in the first place.
Just so, we with our Highly Mountainous, Riverine and Jungle covered borders with two implacably hostile countries viz China and Pak and active Insurgencies in J&K and NE, require a manpower heavy approach to guarding our borders.
Cadre restructuring is never driven by the need for Budgetary cuts which I suspect is the driver behind this “Reform” if one can even call it that.
In the process, we will end up losing one Lakh troops without any High-Tech offsets in lieu.
As for preparing for the next war …….maybe the General should focus on winning the current one. By all accounts in J&K, Sikkim and Ladakh we are on the backfoot vis a vis China and Pak and are worse off in Valley than at anytime since 1989 in terms of control of Law and Order or the Insurgency.
What Gen Rawat is doing is blowing his trumpet in the air .Gen Panag has rightly brought out any reform can not be army specific All the three services must be covered and it should be a joint endeavour.The government must be involvedand must extend its approval .Otherwise at best it is an academic exercise .
I have great respect for Gen Panag.Gen Rawat seems to be playing to the political bosses.Doval is his mentor,I so think.I was GC under Lt Gen L S Rawat in 1962 in I M A .He was different in many ways,except the looks,from the present CO A S.I suspect that the Gen has political ambitions.
I strongly attribute to the views of Hansraj ragav
I strongly attribute to the views of Hansraj Raghav
I attribute to the views of Hansraj Raghav strongly
What was Gen Panag’s contribution to the army. Apart from side profile photos of officers, physical fitness and conducting physical tests at high altitude. Any visionary steps taken then. Zilch. But its so easy to find faults.
The Rawat Doctrine is purely theoritical. Organisational changes are required based on operation requirements. What has changed and in which ops , that Gen Rawat wants to change the present structures which is time tested and evolutionary in nature? Nothing! Hence, why even talk of changes just because you are failing even in providing basic upgrades in the armed forces?
Talking of RIMA, why template Chinese philosophy which is no where applicable to India where we are not even sure what we want the Army for?
Are we forgetting the lessons from the last time we saw a similar “lean and mean” army concept of one of our chiefs which gave nightmares to the commanders on ground who did not find sufficient troops to man even weapon stations during OP PARAKRAM!
BOOTS on ground for an Army with lowest technological thersh hold is a MUST and Rawat’s doctrine is bound to back fire unless stopped NOW! It is ill conceived and poorly timed |
possibly NOT due to military but other compulsions.
I think if there is no budjet, then all soldiers should be sent back to home…….
There is budjet for scams, for distributing scholarships to fraud students, there is budjet for SC, STs to distribute lot of money in different ways, there is budjet for sadbhawna in J&K and for other states there is budjet for political advertisements……. and many more.
But there is no budjet for defence…..
Very disgusting…
Dear Gen Panag,
You are absolutely right Sir, I must compliment you for that.
You being an EC GOC-in-C of an Operational Command very well aware that how Fd Fmns work. Playing with Bde & Div like Fd Fmns by bringing Such High Changes *RIMA* in your words isn’t warranted at this juncture. There are several other but much more important aspects which are being sidelined instead..! I am listening out a few:
1. Poor (diminishing) Physical, Professional and Moral Standards of Triservices esp Army.
2. High level of Corruption in certain Services like MES, Procurement of Medicines, Supply Services, Tendering of Ordinance Privided Items to name a few.
3. Increasing Offr Men gap.
4. Drastically changing behaviour of young soldiers towards their superiors.
In my opinion a Senior Offr like you should come together and firm an Advisory Body to COAS for any such proposal
With Regards
#Ex GOC in C ..
To start let me compliment the COAS for atleast attempting to bring about a paradigm shift in the thought process. Budgetary constraints are a major player in futuristic planning. Has the def min/secy given the green flag to COAS is neither known to Gen Panag and us and it is on Know to basis and cannot and will not be made public. Many of us in this very transparent army know each others contribution and the lesser said the better it is. Lean,mean and thin fighting machine, is what the Indian Army should strive to be. Perfecting itself to operate in all terrains and in all kind of operations. Speed,max impact and flexibility is the key. Margins are jingoism and hyperbole we need to make that soldier on ground to believe that he is the best. I think that’s what the COAS believes too.
Col Sunil Kotnala author ‘Holy Warriors’
Criticism is okay. But what is the contribution of Gen Panag whose thrust was only BPET/ PPT and photos of Offrs from all angles .
Let the Chief do what he feels right , the way we all have done without appreciating any interference from previous commanders.
One thing for sure out criticism will not change the mind of the Chief. You and me have done our bit and let the present lot do what type feel is right , unless asked for our views.
Gen Panag is just a good old soldier who made it to three star rank. Lot of wooly thoughts, with little substance.
Gen Rawat must understand that the downsizing of the Civilian cadre is required desperately. Take a walk outside South block and Sena Bhawan during winters. You can see a hundred odd civilian employees from these offices sitting outside and basking in the sun. Twenty percent civilians are redundant because of zero output. Ask a Dir/DDG, the poor guy is dependant only on his uniformed clk who works overtime w/o any complaint.
Serious study is required to downsize the civilians from AHQ cadre and other organisations in India like DRDO, Ordance Factories, Base Workshops and MES etc. I personally believe that 50 odd thousand posts can be removed w/o affecting the existing output.
When will a chief look into civil upper end jobs created at the expense of military. What ever money is saved in the process gets utilised by MoD. Before making drastic changes there is a need to carry out organisational audit
Of the ministry. A structure that has stood the test of time can only be contemporised and not broken down because Babudum wants it.
This is the same media which said “Surgical Strike” was just ALLEGED and demanded proof. So better keep your nose away from our Army… Better… Propaganda every where… Nice try
I think indian army belongs to indian. I am proud to be an indian hence army belongs to me all the indians. I do not know about the author.
Threat perception from an adversary and possibility of war-full scale or otherwise as an end in itself or to achieve some strategic goal through war should be the start point of any such consideration.Notwithstanding the history of wars with our neighbours some basic questions beg attention-
Till when our borders will remain volatile?
All being nuclear players is all out war a real possibility?
Can the adversary overrun our hinterland and occupy territory or mostly the war will remain limited to border?
Is border management the only issue needing attention or role beyond borders is also any larger consideration ?
As a lay person perception, manpower decisions should be apparently dependent on above questions and therefore Govt must be seen in the forefront of such decisions and not any service Chief .
Sir reduce the strength of corps which are in army bcz the unit task could be perform with very less manpower… Rest of them are showing busy with the work what is not that much improtant…… And the work may also done by the civilians
Reforms just to downsize the forces just due to budgetary constraints are not required for a country like India which has historically unfriendly neighborhood. Instead of this, the fast acquisitions of modern hardware without red tapisms must be the priority.
The Print is advising the general as if the blog writer is an expert in defense. The Print should desist from advising the army and rather spread positive news for the readers. News with leftist orientation will be discarded and rejected outright.
Too pessimistic, less substance in the analysis
Even the USA with all its Technology came unstuck due to manpower constraints and not having the capacity to sustain “boots on the ground” in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Their impending pull out negates the very raison d’être for US Intervention in both these countries at a high cost in American lives, wherein the ISIS and Taliban will stage a comeback and renew the use of the soil of both nations as a base for Anti US Terrorist Operations, denial of which was the justification for invasion and regime change in the first place.
Just so, we with our Highly Mountainous, Riverine and Jungle covered borders with two implacably hostile countries viz China and Pak and active Insurgencies in J&K and NE, require a manpower heavy approach to guarding our borders.
Cadre restructuring is never driven by the need for Budgetary cuts which I suspect is the driver behind this “Reform” if one can even call it that.
In the process, we will end up losing one Lakh troops without any High-Tech offsets in lieu.
As for preparing for the next war …….maybe the General should focus on winning the current one. By all accounts in J&K, Sikkim and Ladakh we are on the backfoot vis a vis China and Pak and are worse off in Valley than at anytime since 1989 in terms of control of Law and Order or the Insurgency.
What Gen Rawat is doing is blowing his trumpet in the air .Gen Panag has rightly brought out any reform can not be army specific All the three services must be covered and it should be a joint endeavour.The government must be involvedand must extend its approval .Otherwise at best it is an academic exercise .