AFMS awaits its new chief

For the first time in the history of the Armed Forces Medical Services AFMS,the top post of the organisation has been lying vacant for almost two months.

For the first time in the history of the Armed Forces Medical Services AFMS,the top post of the organisation has been lying vacant for almost two months. Since July 1,when Lt Gen N K Parmar retired,the Defence Ministry has put off the appointment of a new director general,creating a precedence that some consider have long term consequences for the Armed Forces.

While in all previous cases,the appointment of a new director general begins three months before the planned retirement of the incumbent,this year,two officers Lt Gen Naresh Kumar and Lt Gen Pradeep Bhargava have laid claim to the top post and the ministry has not yet made any move to start the appointment process. Now,with Bhargava set to retire by the end of this month,the stage is clear for the appointment of Kumar to the post.

However,what has raised concerns is that for the first time,the ministry is going against the principle of selecting the senior-most serving doctor as the head of the medical services. As things stand,Bhargava is the senior-most Lt Gen of the AFMS. However,he will retire by the end of this month as the appointment to the top post has not been processed by the ministry.

Complicating the matter is a decision by the ministry to grant a late redressal to Kumar on an annual confidential report that was written five years back. Both Bhargava and Kumar were appointed Lt Gen in 2008,with the former being the senior. However,last year,Kumar applied for a reversal of his annual confidential report ACR of 2005,even though the same ACR was considered to grant him the rank of Brigadier and Maj Gen.

Now,with the Defence Ministry granting him relief on the 2005 ACR,Kumar has become eligible for attaining the rank of a Lt Gen as per a 2007 Board,which would make him senior to Bhargava. However,the retrospective effect of the rank has still not been granted to him yet. This has put the ministry in a peculiar position where both candidates have legitimate claims to the top position. While currently,Bhargava is the senior-most and by that stature should be made the DG AFMS,after the retrospective effect of the Lt Gen rank,Kumar would be senior.

As of now,the ministry seems to be waiting till Bhargava retires by the end of this month so that things would become simpler. However,there is the possibility of the AFMS remaining without a head for some time considering that the legal option can still be exercised by Bhargava.