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A jarring note in the chorus for Theatre Commands

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Assuming that MoHA is keen to play ball, integrating them with the ITC constructions is just not going to be a simple activity.

By Amit Cowshish

Talking at a webinar organised by the International Counter Terrorism Council, Chief of Defence Workers (CDS) described the Indian Air Drive (IAF) as a ‘supporting arm’ akin to artillery and engineers that help the combatant arms of the Indian Military (IA). He additionally added, considerably patronisingly, that the IAF should perceive that its constitution is to supply help to the bottom forces in time of operations, belittling the power that turned the tables within the final conflict fought in Kargil in 1999.

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Coming from somebody who’s tasked with the accountability of bringing about operational jointness by compressing the present 17 instructions, the three providers presently function, into 5 Built-in Theatre Instructions (ITCs), the assertion was iniquitous and premature. The IAF’s function is just not confined to air defence. In recent times, it has performed a stellar function in Humanitarian Help and Catastrophe Aid (HADR) operations, which aren’t part of navy operations. Extra importantly, IAF has an necessary function to play in future wars which might be extra prone to be fought in air and house.

Whereas Air Chief RKS Bhaduria rapidly refuted the CDS saying that ‘airpower has an enormous function to play’, mirroring the reservations IAF has had for greater than twenty years, it’s unlikely to stall the inadequately deliberate transfer to create the ITCs. Nonetheless, this unpleasant and completely avoidable public spat signifies that different advanced points -and there are a number of of them- impacting institution of the ITCs can also get equally brushed underneath the carpet.

Every of the 17 current instructions is headed by a secretary-level three-star officer. With the requirement coming down to five after ITCs are established, one of many speedy challenges can be to accommodate 12 three-star officers who would turn into redundant after the ITCs are shaped. Moreover, some Principal Workers Officers (PSOs) on the Companies Headquarters (SHQ) who additionally take pleasure in the identical standing could turn into redundant within the new command and management construction. The issue could appear insignificant, however it’s not a trivial matter for an organisation that’s extraordinarily delicate about pay, perks and standing, particularly vis-à-vis the civilians.

Speaking of civilians, the indications are that the ITCs would subsume not solely a number of the entities presently administered by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), just like the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), but additionally the paramilitary forces like Assam Rifles and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police which might be presently managed by the Ministry of Residence Affairs (MoHA). Assuming that MoHA is keen to play ball, integrating them with the ITC constructions is just not going to be a simple activity.

The organisational ethos of the providers, particularly the IA, is basically incommodious and domineering. The prejudices, biases and grudges have gotten ingrained of their outlook which isn’t conducive to integration of ‘outsiders’, typically thought of inferior. This perspective is extra pronounced in relation to coping with the civilian officers who too are anticipated to be inducted into the ITC set-up.

No thought appears to have been given to how this attitudinal change shall be led to to not solely recover from the many years lengthy inter-services rivalries and turf wars -amply demonstrated by the CDS’s assertion and the Air Chief’s rejoinder- but additionally the adversarial views about having the civilian forms as part of the decision-making within the new set-up on an equal footing. This too is probably not really easy for the protocol-conscious providers.

These points will not be as fanciful as they might seem; these conversant in the inside functioning of the BRO and ICG, or the Navy Engineer Service (MES) which has a good sprinkling of civilians, would vouch for it. And so would the officers of the Armed Forces Headquarters Service (AFHQ) which is a civilian cadre manning the SHQs. This attitudinal propensity is greatest illustrated by the posting of two civilian officers to the Division of Navy Affairs (DMA), headed by the CDS as its secretary, who’ve been assigned the mundane duties of managing the institution, coordination, works and parliamentary affairs.

Final however not the least, one of many first issues the impecunious MoD wanted to do was to estimate the price of establishing the ITCs, however this doesn’t appear to have been performed. Going by frequent sense, enormous sums of cash shall be required to create the infrastructure for the ITCs as it’s virtually sure that the present infrastructure at not one of the stations the place the present command headquarters are positioned can be thought of ample by the ITC commanders.

For instance, going by the media reviews, the Western Theatre Command is prone to be positioned at Jaipur which is the place the IA’s South Western Command (SWC) is presently positioned. Arrange on 15 April 2005, the SWC’s infrastructure is probably not ample to accommodate the complete institution of the brand new Western ITC. Growth of infrastructure would contain acquisition of extra land which, aside from being an costly and time-consuming course of, can get mired in litigation. That is exactly what occurred in Karwar in Karnataka, which is being developed as a naval base.

The primary part of this naval base, known as INS Kadamba, was accomplished after a number of years of labor in 2005. The second part of improvement that began in 2011 is but to be accomplished. For fairly a while, the challenge was embroiled in court docket circumstances filed by the landowners, whose land was acquired for the challenge, for increased compensation. Apart from, establishing different important providers like water, electrical energy, method roads, colleges, and purchasing centres may be an equally onerous train. It could require cautious planning to pre-empt such delays in elevating or augmenting the infrastructure of the brand new ITCs.

In the meantime, a minimum of 12 of the present Command Headquarters should be downgraded, presumably rendering a number of the infrastructure surplus to the requirement. It isn’t recognized to what use the excess infrastructure is deliberate to be put. Monetary planning is essential to minimise the associated fee by making optimum use of the present infrastructure and sources. Whereas you will need to resolve the bigger operational points, reminiscent of the brand new command and management construction, earlier than the ITCs are created, it might be a mistake to minimize the above talked about seemingly mundane points as these might frustrate the method.

(The creator is former Monetary Advisor (Acquisition), Ministry of Defence. Views expressed are private and don’t mirror the official place or coverage of Monetary Specific On-line.)

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