New Delhi: The United Progressive Alliance Government took a major decision on Friday when it approved 1,896 new posts at the top level in the three defence services.
The armed forces will now have more Lieutenant Generals, Major Generals, Air Marshals, Admirals and Commodores. This combined with the recent hike in pay, is expected to keep defence personnel happy.
Army will have 20 more Lieutenant Generals, 75 more Major Generals, 222 Brigadier Generals and 734 more Colonels. There are already 61 Lieutenant Generals, 199 Major Generals, 824 Brigadiers and 3389 Colonels serving in the Army at present.
Under the proposal, Indian Army will get about 1,051 new posts upgraded in select ranks and it will be implemented over a five-year period.
Indian Air Force will see the creation of 503 new posts which include six additional posts of Air Marshals, 21 more Air Vice Marshals, 61 Air Commodores and 415 Group Captains.
The restructuring of the officer cadre will take place over a five-year period.
Already, the IAF has an existing strength of 22 Air Marshals, 47 Air Vice Marshals, 131 Air Commodores and 476 Group Captains serving at present.
Indian Navy, too, gets 342 posts of Commanders upgraded to select grade ranks from within the authorised strength of the Indian Navy. But this would be done over 10 years and it already has 15 Vice Admirals, 43 Rear Admirals and 418 Commodores and Captains serving it at present.
This includes four more Vice Admirals, 14 Rear Admirals, 324 Commodores and Captains.
“The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has taken a decision to implement the Phase-II of Ajai Vikram Singh Committee (AVSC) report," Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi said in New Delhi.
The implementation of Phase II of the AVSC recommended creation of the additional posts to ensure quicker promotions to Army, Navy and Air Force officers.
The decision is also aimed at stemming the high rate of attrition among middle-rung officers from Majors to Colonels and their equivalents in the three services, which already face a shortage of about 13,000 officers, mostly in the middle-rung.
The implementation of the Phase-II of the AVSC report will cost the government exchequer Rs 8.44 crore annually, government sources said.
With the armed forces not attracting enough talent in recent times and with Pre-Mature Retirements plaguing them, the government had set-up the committee under former defence secretary Ajai Vikram Singh to suggest ways of making the services attractive as a career for the youth.
Based on the committee's recommendations for restructuring of the officer cadre, the government implemented the Phase I of the report concerning lower rungs from Captains to Lt Colonels in the Army and their equivalents in the Navy and Air Force in 2004.
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