Nod to military reforms: More troops for combat

ARMY OVERHAUL 65 of Shekatkar panel suggestions to be implemented; changes to be carried out by 2019end

NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday announced an extensive restructuring of its army, an exercise that will see 57,000 soldiers being redeployed in combat roles to sharp en the force’ s fighting edge.

Announcing the government’ s decision to usher in the muchneeded reforms, defence minister Arun Jaitley told media after a cabinet meeting the “far-reaching” revamp was aimed at improving army’s tooth-to-tail ratio—the number of personnel (tail) required to support a combat soldier (tooth).

“Implementation has begun with the decision of the cabinet committee on security to close 39 military farms in a time-bound manner,” a defence ministry spokesperson said.

The restructuring would be completed by December 2019. The army has around 40,525 officers and 1.15 million other ranks.

The defence ministry dubbed the overhaul the first such exercise in Independent India’s military history.

The restructuring effort will involve the shutting down of all military farms and army postal units in peace stations and a revamp of different wings, including logistics, communications establishments, repair fa cil- ities, ordnance depots and other administrative and support areas.

The exercise follows recommendations made by an 11- member expert panel, headed by lieutenant general DB Shekatkar (retd), on enhancing the army’s combat potential and trimming its revenue expenditure.

The committee had listed out measures to bring down the budget for meeting day-to-day expenses and making more money available for weapons and equipment.

The ministry is implementing the first batch of 65 of the 99 Shekatkar panel recommendations approved by the government.

The remaining 34 relate to the air force, navy and some tri-service issues. The suggestions are being implemented nine months after the committee submitted its report.

Asked if the restructuring was being undertaken factoring in the recent Doklam standoff with China, Jaitley said, “This is not specific to any incident. It had been going on much prior to Doklam.”

Indian and Chinese soldiers were locked in a standoff for more than two months in the Doklam plateau that is claimed by both Bhutan and China and border’s Sikkim on the Indian side.