Army’s path of self-destruction by implementing Ajai Vikram Singh Committee recommendations

The original purpose of forming the Ajai Vikram singh Committee (or AVSC as it has come to be known), was to find a way to ensure that officers placed in command of the Indian Army’s basic combat units, were in a younger age bracket. Over the years, a number of factors had combined to push the age of Battalion and Brigade Commanders to an average which compared unfavourably with their counterparts in other armies ; and it was felt that as a result their physical and mental dexterity maybe severely tested under fire.

The Navy and IAF did not have a similar difficulty, and initially these two Services believed that the Army would be able to resolve its problem by making necessary changes in personnel management and promotion policies. However, a degree of unease began to be felt in NHQ and Vayu Bhavan, because the Army had, just a few years earlier, departed from a pre-Independence Indian Army tradition, and upgraded Battalion Commanders from the rank of Lieutenant colonel to full Colonel (which was till then not so much a rank, as an appointment). The simplest way of reducing the ages of Battalion and Brigade Commanders would have been to revert to the old rank structure, but it became evident that the favoured route was to seek more vacancies in the latter rank.

‘Selection and maintenance of aim’ is a cardinal principle of War, but somebody, somewhere seems to have lost the thread, and the aim got shifted from ‘reduction in age of Battalion Commanders’ to the more ambitious one of ‘improving upward mobility and career prospects of officers’ and this resulted in a wide-ranging quest for additional higher ranks, including the creation of a new rank to be known as ‘Colonel-General’!

Thus, Ajai Vikram Singh, an able and forthright Civil servant, when asked to consider a substantial increment in the number of senior ranks, posed a very pertinent question; what functions do two and three –star officers perform today, and when you have a 150 more of the species, how will they occupy themselves? Since the query remained unanswered, he held this issue in abeyance, and moved on to the more pressing problem that the AVSC had been convened for: how to bring down the age of Battalion Commanders?

Having partaken of the benefits offered by AVSC part I, the birds have now come home to roost for the services. The large number of officers promoted under its provisions are coming up for the next rank, and now many more vacancies are made available in higher ranks, (through AVSC Part II). By starting the rank inflation game, the Services have regrettably walked into a dangerous trap, and triggered off a vicious cycle which can only result in proliferation of ranks and their consequent devaluation; thus damaging the time honoured pyramidical command structure.
This is the extract of an article by the former Naval Chief, Admiral (Retd) Arun Prakash. [HT- JaiSena.com]
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