Military Reforms

In News

• Presently, the government is looking to streamline the post and the functions of the Department of Military Affairs (DMA).

About

• The Government is yet to announce a successor to the country’s top military post (CDS). 
• Reason for Delay: The Government is reassessing the concept of the post as well as the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) and is looking to streamline the setup.
• Dual heads: There is also dichotomy in the roles and responsibilities with the several hats worn by the CDS and also overlap in responsibilities between the DMA and Department of Defence (DoD).
• Review Timelines: There is also a rethink on the ambitious timelines set for the creation of theatre commands and also the number of commands and their envisaged format.

Chief of Defence Staff

• Post creation: 
  • The Government’s decision in 2019 to create the post of a CDS, a long-pending demand to bring in tri-service synergy and integration. 
  • It  is the biggest top-level military reform since independence.
  • The post of CDS is in the rank of a four-star General with salary and perquisites equivalent to a Service Chief.
  • In addition, the DMA was created as the fifth department in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) with the CDS functioning as its Secretary.
• Function: The broad mandate of the CDS includes bringing about jointness in operations, logistics, transport, training, support services, communications, repairs and maintenance of the three Services, within three years of the first CDS assuming office.
• Other duties: 
  • The CDS is also the Principal Military Adviser to the Defence Minister and Permanent Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CoSC).
  • He will act as the Principal Military Adviser to the Defence Minister on all tri-Services matters. 
    • However, the three Chiefs will continue to advise the Defence Minister on matters exclusively concerning their respective Services.
  • The CDS will not exercise any military command, including over the three Service Chiefs.
  • The CDS will also evaluate plans for Out of Area Contingencies, as well other contingencies such as Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR). 
  • The specialised tri-service divisions — special operations, defence cyber and defence space — were also brought under the ambit of the CDS.
  • The CDS is a high military office that oversees and coordinates the working of the three Services.
  •  It offers seamless tri-service views and single-point advice to the Executive.
• Under RTI ambit: The CDS would come in the ambit of ‘Right to Information Act, in accordance with the provisions of the RTI Act, 2005.

Need for Military Reform

• Strategic Challenges in South Asia such as:
  • Conflict in Afghanistan and the Af-Pak border
  • Boundary disputes between India and China
  • Cross border terrorism and boundary dispute with Pakistan
  • The rising tide of Left-Wing Extremism (LWE).
  • Nuclear threat from hostile neighbours.
• Lack of an Integrated Command: India does not have a combined tri-service structure trained to handle an integrated war and joint theatre commands for efficacious battlefield management.
• Civil-military relation: Lack of an adequate institutional mechanism for dialogue between the civilian and military leadership is an important concern.
  • In the US and Britain, civil and defence officers work together and share opinions at all levels before concrete proposals are drafted for decision by elected representatives.
  • In India on the other hand, final authority lies with the Defence Minister who functions from the MoD along with the defence secretary.
  • The three service chiefs function at a level lower than the MoD leading to unclear delegation and accountability.
• Military capacity: Low teeth-tail ratio, unfulfilled vacancies, etc. deters the credible military capacity. The tooth-to-tail ratio refers to the amount of supply and support personnel (termed as tail) for each combat soldier (tooth).
• Budgetary allocations: Defence Budget stands at around 1.5% of GDP. There has been a persistent demand that defence expenditure be increased to three per cent of GDP.
• War Equipment: Indian Army has stated that 68% of its war fighting equipment is obsolete which severely erodes Indian defence forces capabilities to fight a war.
• Gender gap: The reforms, so far, have not addressed the monumental difference in the number of men and women in the Indian Army. A report noted that 96.2% of the Indian army is male.
• Ending Sahayak system: Soldiers in this system are forced to do domestic chores like washing clothes for senior officers, acting as their ‘sahayaks’. This erodes the dignity and prestige of jawans.

Way Ahead

• Theatre commands: To have a CDS with operational powers who will after due legislative changes have theatre commanders report to him while the Service Chiefs will look after the raise, train and sustain functions of respective Services.
• Holistic Approach: The reforms must include the entire national security architecture with a view to building an overarching organisation that can cohesively address the challenge of hybrid and unconventional wars such as cyber and space based wars.
• The reforms approved by the Defence Ministry is a step in the right direction. However, reforms must be holistic and homogenous.

Source: TH