Army Conference To Discuss Ladakh Stand-Off Today
NEW DELHI: Top commanders of the Army on Monday held extensive deliberations on a plethora of issues relating to human resource management in the 1.3 million-strong force, on the opening day of a fourday conference, official sources said.
On Tuesday, the commanders are likely to carry out a comprehensive review of India's combat readiness in eastern Ladakh as well as other sensitive areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.
The sources said the commanders held detailed deliberations on ways to bring further efficiency in shaping up young talents, matters relating to promotion and meeting aspirations of all rank and file of the Army personnel.
In the course of the conference, the commanders will also deliberate on a slew of long-pending reform measures like cutting down on ceremonial practices and non-military activities to ensure a rational distribution of resources, the sources said.
The Army Commanders' Conference (ACC), which is an apex level biannual event that formulates important policy decisions through a collegiate system of deliberation, is being attended by all commanders, Principal Staff Officers (PSOs)
of the Army headquarters and other senior officers.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh and Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria will address the commanders on Tuesday afternoon, the sources said.
The Army Commanders will carry out a comprehensive review of the security challenges facing the nation including the situation in eastern Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir, they said.
There will be a discussion on issues flagged by the Commander-inChief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command, which is India's only tri-services command.
The Army commanders will also attempt to finalise various reform measures recommended by separate internal committees on the utilisation of limited resources while at the same time focusing on enhancing the operational capability of the force, the sources said. Some of the proposals to be on the table at the conference include discontinuing or at least bringing down the scale of the Army Day and Territorial Army Day parades, cutting down on various ceremonial practices and reducing the number of officers' mess within individual peace stations, the sources said.
The sources said the last day's agenda of the conference will include a briefing by the Director General of Border Roads on the various infrastructure development projects being undertaken by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and allied formations.
They said "automation initiatives" to optimise utilisation of manpower at various levels of the Army will also be discussed.