Plans for a leaner, younger Army on hold

A Ministry spokesman confirmed that the Bagga Committee recommendations had been forwarded to the other two services for their views. In the aftermath of the Kargil war, where the Army found senior commanders unable to perform due to a high age profile, the government set up a committee to recommend a cadre restructuring. Set up under the chairmanship of Special Secretary (Acquisition) Ajai Vikram Singh, the recommendations were designed to introduce a younger profile of formation commanders, offer VRS and improve promotional prospects.

South Block, however, seems to have developed cold feet and sought the ‘‘advice’’ of the other two services. It is learnt the IAF and the Navy, still grappling with their own policies, had reservations on the faster promotions for their Army counterparts.

In its review, the committee took into account the Army’s pyramidal structure. With a number of officers being superseded, it was affecting morale. The age profile of the commanding officers of battalions and formation commanders was also on the higher side and had affected conduct of operations during Kargil.

On July 16, 2001, the Defence Ministry set up the committee to examine an Army HQ proposal for restructuring the officers’ cadre. The committee identified two related issues of age profile and cadre stagnation. It suggested several short-term and long-term recommendations for improving promotional prospects, as well as lower the age profile.

Short-term measures included additional deputational vacancies and lateral absorption while long-term measures included exit through voluntary severance schemes and creation of additional appointments. In fact, when the Army Training Command had been set up the Army had been sanctioned only one post for a lieutenant general. With the proposal, the Army hoped to create more posts to facilitate faster promotion.