After economy, Army reforms kick in: 57,000 soldiers to be redeployed

Following the Doklam standoff with China and the continuing tension along the border with Pakistan, India on Wednesday decided to go in for an extensive restructuring of its army, an exercise that will see 57,000 soldiers being redeployed in combat roles.

Announcing the government’s decision to usher in the much-needed reforms, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters 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 restructuring 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 facilities, ordnance depots and other support areas.

The exercise follows recommendations made by an 11-member expert panel headed by L-G D.B. 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.