Two Army corps without heads

The way in which the government has promoted senior Army officers in the past six months has left two crucial fighting Corps in a strange si...

The way in which the government has promoted senior Army officers in the past six months has left two crucial fighting Corps in a strange situation.

While 10 Corps, which guards the Western sector, has been without a commander since the beginning of this month, the Army is searching hard for an officer to replace the incumbent at 4 Corps in Tezpur.

The crux of the matter is that none of the newly promoted three-star officers have the mandatory three years of residual service to take over a Corps, and the only eligible officer, Lt Gen J S Lidder, has been sent on UN deputation to Sudan.

The problem was brought up and discussed at a meeting between Army chief Gen JJ Singh, Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt and MoD Joint Secretary Bimal Julka last week. When contacted, the Army said it did not have any comment. Neither was there a response to a questionnaire sent by The Indian Express to the MoD.

But the genesis of the problem and the fallout seems to have been a last-minute promotion in June last year. Consider the following:

8226; On June 30, just a day before he was to retire, DG Works Maj Gen Utpal Bhattacharya was promoted and is now DG Manpower 038; Planning

8226; An officer senior to him Maj Gen AK Saini therefore also had to be promoted. A signals officer, Saini will shortly take over as DG Rashtriya Rifles, with orders from the MoD that both appointments be absorbed into the mainstream in the next six months in addition to the 67 three-star appointments currently sanctioned by the government.

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8226; Additionally, by a special board constituted on December 30, Maj Gen DK Sindhu has picked up rank to become DG Resettlement, again just weeks before his retirement date.

8226; At the end of February, Maj Gen Sivakumar, military advisor to former Army chief Gen S Padmanabhan is expected to pick up rank and proceed to the unsanctioned appointment of Additional Officer at Eastern Command in Kolkata.

8226; At the same time, Maj Gen Y K Jain will be promoted and his current appointment of DG Married Accommodation Projects will converted into a three-star appointment.

8226; On January 1, GOC 10 Corps Lt Gen O P Nandrajog became Central Army commander, and his former post is vacant in this formation that is crucial in the Western theatre.

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8226; GOC 4 Corps in Tezpur Lt Gen H S Lidder will replace Lt Gen B S Takhar as Southern commander at the end of February, but with no replacement so far announced.