Armed Forces Top Brass Structure Reforms: Draft Recommendation Submitted

Armed Forces Top Brass Structure Reforms: Draft Recommendation Submitted

Television news channel 'Times Now' reports that the Indian Armed Forces is about to become "top heavy" with a general consensus to appoint 150 more generals, admirals and marshals to the three services.Appointing 150 top officers would translate into a 40 per cent increase over the current force strength at senior levels. Under the plan, the army will get 95 more lieutenant and major generals, the navy 23 admirals and the air force 38 marshals.Though this is a proposal that was first tabled to then defence minister George Fernandes in May 2001, it has been delayed because the Army has serious differences with the Navy and Air Force regarding the exact numbers.The Army felt the Navy and Air Force were getting far too many admirals and marshals considering their smaller size. The issue was also discussed by the three chiefs from 2005 but without much success back then.However the issue seems to have been resolved and the three services have now jointly submitted their proposals with their different views to the government. A cabinet note was forwarded to the defence (finance) authorities earlier this year, but the government is yet to make up its mind.