India produces the finest Generals it possibly can

My Response to Ajay Shukla's "Wake Up Generals"... Click here
Dear Ajay,
(Ajay left the Army a few years ago as Lt Col/Col. He was in the Armd Corps I think)
I feel very very sad and disenchanted to read your article written for the Business Standard. You left the Army and became a journalist. Great. You have significant inside knowledge of the Army and the other two services. One thought you would use it to educate the Indian polity about National security matters, and not write trash as you have done in this article.
Let us try and imagine what will be the end effect of this article. Will it create better impression of our army in the minds of the general public, the politicians, the bureaucracy, the youngsters aspiring to join the Army. What about the negative effect on serving officers and men!!
Writing about how many people work in the Army House should be below the dignity of Ajay. How can a NDA/ IMA trained gentleman officer stoop so low!!
Also do you think this article would be considered a journalistic achievement of yours and raise your stock amongst the new fraternity you have chosen as a result of your second career!!
Ajay dear, I am from the 1st Course JSW/ NDA. Joined in Jan 1949. Have seen the Army since then. I have also seen the US Army/ Marine Corps some what. Worked with TATAs also. I see the Indian Army now. There are changes even since I retired in 1991 but let me inform you that these are more visible in peace areas. These are as a result of societal changes. The Army cannot be divorced from the rest of the nation. But in the field/ operational areas officers and soldiers are doing commendable job. You are fully aware that it is extremely difficult to rise in the Indian Army and one has to be really lucky in addition to having professional capabilities to pick up a flag rank.
I wrote this to the Shekhar Gupta after the most derogatory article published on the front page of the Indian Express a few weeks back.
THIS IS THE BEST GENERALS OUR COUNTRY CAN PRODUCE. INDIA HAS FOREIGN HOCKEY, CRICKET, BOXING COACHES. IF YOU OR THE NATION ARE NOT HAPPY WITH THE GENERALS, IMPORT THEM ALSO FROM FOREIGN COUNTRIES, ESPECIALLY ITALY!!
I would be happy if with your experience in the Army you can come out with some positive suggestions on how to improve the quality of our generals. Deep selection is no answer, as we Indians are experts in beating any system. Also every policy has its pros and cons!!
Whatever we do, we should not hand over the process to the politicians and the bureaucrats.
Ajay please please do not throw muck on the Army of which you are a product. Please do ponder over the ill effects.
Best wishes.
Lt Gen Harbhajan Singh (Retired)

NDA, IMA and OTA train military leaders
A General leads his men by his example. He expects his men to do their duty to the fullest extent of the word. He will send no man to do what he himself would not do of his own accord. He will enforce discipline, and will establish that he is in charge. He must never hold himself higher than a deity, or have his men treat him as such. He must approach warfare from many angles, being flexible direct or aggressive as the situation warrants. He must also not be afraid of losing everything. The General who does not commit himself fully to victory will lose without honour.

CPC's: Military Cheated in Fixation of Basic Pay

Ref: Army faces shortage of officers
COMMENTS:

Recently there was news that in police force there is huge shortage of officers, and now army too. In country with billions of population and unemployment among educated youth its hard to understand defence ministers logic.
from: ghanshyamGhanshyam Dwivedi Posted on: Sep 30, 2012 at 09:25 IST

As long as the bureaucracy continues to cheat the armed forces of their legitimate rights,parents will dissuade their children from joining the Force. In a judgement given on 4th Sept, the Supreme Court found fault with the implementation of the 4th CPC and ordered a payment to all affected personnel. The so- called steps towards One Rank One Pension is actually a disguised correction to a case of cheating in the 6th CPC recommendations where retired officers have lost a considerable amount in their pension fixation. To avoid paying a large amount of arrears this correction has been made prospective. Even if the case goes to the Supreme Court the UOI will try to waive of at least the interest burden. A retired Major lost over Rs.3500/-pm due to this. This coupled with Dearness Allowance has created a loss of nearly 4 Lakhs of rupees till now. Keeping these cases in mind the parents are apprehensive of their children joining the Armed Forces as they maybe cheated in future.
from: S N IYER Posted on: Sep 30, 2012 at 09:48 IST <>br>

Although pay structures in the armed forces have substantially improved in recent time, the honor & dignity associated with the uniform has taken a steep downward slide over the years.Earlier even the scions of the princely states used to deem it great honour to be officers in the armed forces -while now they all want to be in politics & why not. I do recall in the mid sixties a simple letter while commanding a unit to the District Collector could elicit favourable reply to resolve an airman's problem. Will it happen now-when feeling has gone around that one has to fight it out in the to get even rank pay after 25 years legal marathon. Govt must avoid bad publicity it is getting by ex servicemen coming on streets and improve service conditions substantially & restore the protocol as it was in the fifties. Soldiers must have their place in the society. Govt can take help of Defence Institute of Psychological Research of DRDO to find out why bright young men are avoiding career in the armed forces.
from: Air Cmde Raghubir Singh Retd Posted on: Sep 30, 2012 at 10:28 IST

NDA Scam: Godfathers in the Army perpetuate Greed, Corruption and Sleeze

My story, is about the accused colonel and who is Anil Kumar Singh, the Physical Training Officer, NDA and is the Presiding Officer of the BOO.
This officer, like many others transferred from the Mechanised Infantry into the Army Physical Training Corps (APTC) and has served under me, while I was in service. While I was his superior and the Head of Service of the APTC, A K Singh was always and ever on the lookout for any opportunity which came his way to ingratiate himself to me as also others, who mattered. The officer, an ex NDA himself and from India Squadron, is of an average calibre but ambitious to the extent of going to any distance, for self seeking positional and promotional gains. On an occasion, when I was the Deputy Director General (DDG) in the Integrated Head Quarters of Defence (Army), he wrote to me an unsigned demi official letter, requesting for an undue favour regarding his posting, which was most unbecoming in the circumstances, keeping in mind the turnover of officers in the interest of the Corps and the Organization. This was seen by me in a very adverse and poor manner, and I recommended suitable administrative action against him, to his superior officer and the commandant.
The commandant doled out an innocuous warning to the officer, as a matter of routine compliance to my observation, probably because of his closeness to the officer for whatever good reason or otherwise. Given the unbecoming alliance between some senior officers in the Army institute of Physical Training (AIPT) and the Directorate General of Military Training, A K Singh managed to get his way with regard to his posting, with tacit support from the then Director General of Military Training, who also happens to be the ex officio Colonel Commandant of the APTC and who prevailed upon the parent Military Secretary’s branch, to do the needful. By the time I learnt about this, The DGMT and the Colonel Commandant was on his way on promotion to command a Corps in the Northern Sector. I, then wrote to the Deputy Military Secretary (Dy MS) about the grave wrong which was about to get done, should the officer’s request be upheld with regard to his posting, notwithstanding the favourable recommendation of the erstwhile DGMT and Colonel Commandant, who, was by now comfortably ensconced in his new appointment, on promotion. My letter was also forward to the ex DGMT, apprising him about my request to the Dy MS, to ignore the former’s directions on AK Singh’s request about his posting. The Dy MS saw good reason in my recommendations to undo what had been done and posted out the officer from where he wanted to remain for another year or so.
A K Singh smelled the opportunity, ingratiated himself through the staff officer to the commandant NDA, and emerged as the prime candidate to be assigned the responsibility to become the Presiding Officer of the now infamous BOO.
Major General (retd) Gagan Deep Bakshi, I am not willing to believe you when you defend the corrupt and the arrogant in the Army, by always finding an escape route for yourself from a vulnerable situation, during a debate on the sliding standards of probity and rectitude in the Armed Forces, by becoming patronising towards the anchor and sermonising him on how the day starts for a cadet in the NDA, by reciting the PRAYER of, truth, courage and values.
When the guardians and custodians start eroding the value system themselves, just akin to the fence which grows and eats into the lawn, what will be the credibility of an officer and a leader, who commands and leads, not by example but by the positional authority vested in him by the Rashtrapati. The making of a revolt or else a mutiny in the rank and files of the Army, is not a distant possibility. Beware!
Brigadier (retd) S D Dangwal
Extracted from: Click here for the full details
Comment: This story has all the ingredients for a Bollywood Blockbuster. The story is same or similar in all the Army Training Institutions like Staff College, College of Combat, IMA, and more... most of the sleeze scams are generally covered up.

NDA Scam: CBI tight lipped

CBI grills former NDA commandant for 2 days
Published: Wednesday, Sep 19, 2012, 13:55 IST
By DNA Correspondent | Place: Pune | Agency: DNA
Former commandant of the National Defence Academy (NDA), Lt General Jatinder Singh, was grilled by a team of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials in the NDA job scam case for the second consecutive day on Tuesday.
Lt Gen Singh was the NDA commandant when a Rs2 crore scam in the recruitment of class III and IV officers came to light in July.
Lt Gen Singh was later transferred to the Army Headquarters as a staffer.
The CBI officials, however, were tight-lipped about the outcome of the interrogations. Superintendent of CBI-Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) Rajkumar Vhatkar said, “We have been interrogating Lt Gen Singh for the last two days. We questioned him on various aspects of the case from 10 am on Tuesday till late evening. We cannot disclose what was the outcome of the questioning. Information about the revelations will be included in the chargesheet which will be submitted to the court.”
The CBI-ACB had already arrested eight people including two serving Colonels in the case. The arrested people include Colonel Kulbir Singh, Colonel AK Singh, Suhas Waghmare, Manoj Shitkal, Dattatray Shitkal, Balkishan Kanojia, Vishnu Sharma and Ramesh Gaikwad. All the arrested people have been granted bail.
CBI grills former NDA commandant for 2 days
Comment: CBI is famous for cover ups. This is a straight case where bribes were taken under the command of NDA Commandant- without his knowledge such scale of scam in Military parlance cannot be executed.

NDA job scam: CBI grills ex-commandant

NDA job scam: CBI grills ex-commandant for 10 hours
Pranav Kulkarni , SushantKulkarni : Pune, Tue Sep 18 2012, 00:52 hrs
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday grilled Lt Gen Jatinder Singh for 10 hours in connection with the alleged recruitment scam that had unseated him in July from the post of National Defence Academy (NDA) commandant.
Now attached to the Army Headquarters as a staffer to the Deputy Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Singh arrived at the CBI office in Pune at 10 am in a Pune HQ Sub Area car and emerged at 8 pm through a backdoor in a bid to evade reporters. CBI sources said he will be called again at 10 am Tuesday.
Rajkumar Vahtkar, superintendent of the CBI-ACB, confirmed that Lt Gen Singh was questioned in connection with the case on Monday morning. He refused to divulge details.
The alleged scam involving recruitment of class ‘C’ employees had come to light in June last week. His staff officer Col Kulbir Singh and Physical Training Officer (PTO) Col A K Singh, besides a civilian staffer and five others who acted as “agents”, have already been questioned by the CBI and are currently out on bail.
Lt Gen Singh was shifted on July 4 after the CBI wrote to Defence Minister A K Antony, seeking his transfer to facilitate an “unbiased probe”.
The CBI had said they recovered Rs 1.76 crore of the alleged recruitment scam money, and that “trails are also being traced” of about Rs 4 lakh Lt Gen Singh’s staff officer Col Kulbir Singh is believed to have handed over to Lt Gen Singh’s brother in a five star hotel in Mumbai on June 23.
“Lt Gen Singh claimed Kulbir Singh had handed over money he had borrowed. Why would the amount be in cash, when his brother had paid him by cheque? Interestingly, we also seized 12 bottles of expensive whisky along with the Rs 4 lakh in cash,” said an officer.
A 7000 sq ft post-retirement bungalow Lt Gen Singh has been constructing at Ambala has also come under the scanner of the agency. The CBI is reportedly looking into various payments made for the house valued at approximately Rs 1 crore. “We are looking into modes of payment for the house. Our teams have carried out searches in Delhi and other places,” said a CBI officer.
Another officer said, “During questioning, we asked Singh about relations between him and his staff officer as well as PTO. He was cooperative during questioning though he opted not to answer many questions. We will be questioning him again on Tuesday.”
When The Indian Express team visited the CBI office in Akurdi, the car was parked outside. Lt Gen Singh was accompanied by his son-in-law, a doctor at the Military Hospital, Pune, and other relatives. Lt Gen Singh tried to evade the Express team. In fact, one of the persons who accompanied him sat in the car, while Lt Gen Singh opted to exit through a back door. One of the persons who accompanied him tried to prevent The Indian Express photographer from taking pictures.
NDA job scam: CBI grills ex-commandant for 10 hours

NDA Scam: Lt Gen Jatinder Singh to be grilled by CBI

Ex-NDA chief to be grilled in job scam
Rajshri Mehta, TNN | Sep 16, 2012, 01.33AM IST
MUMBAI: The CBI will question Lt Gen Jatinder Singh, former Commandant of the National Defence Academy, on September 17 in the recruitment scam.
According to an investigation, Rs 3-5 lakh was allegedly paid in bribe for C-grade posts of as C-grade staff like cooks, gardeners, clerks etc at NDA while Lt Gen Singh was the commandant there. The total bribe amount came close to Rs 1.76 crore. The accused allegedly took signatures of the candidates, who agreed to pay the bribe, on blank sheets and later filled them with correct answers, the investigation said.
The defence ministry granted the permission to quiz Singh after the CBI reportedly reportedly established a "money link", connecting Singh and his brother to the alleged scam. The CBI probe showed prime accused Col Kulbir Singh, also the staff officer to the Commandant, gave Rs 4 lakh in cash to Singh's brother during a meeting in a five-star hotel in Mumbai on June 23. After the CBI arrested six of NDA's employees, including Singh's staff officer, for allegedly taking bribe from candidates appearing for the subordinate jobs, Singh lieutenant general was earlier transferred out of NDA and attached to the Army Headquarters.
Singh declined to comment when contacted by TOI.
The CBI has already questioned Singh's brother who works in a leading corporate house. "He told us Singh took Rs 4 lakh from him which was returned by Kulbir Singh. The money was for building a home in Ambala. It's odd that Singh should take money from a staff officer to repay his brother and that too, in a five-star hotel. Singh took the money from his brother in cheque and paid it back in cash," said an agency official.
Singh will be asked to explain the source of funds for his under-construction 7,000 sq-ft bungalow in Ambala, worth over Rs 2 crore. The agency will ask Singh questions like his powers in approving and preventing any mischief in the recruitment process and action taken on complaints of malpractices in exams.
According to the probe, bribes of Rs 3-5 lakh were allegedly paid for jobs as C-grade staff like cooks, gardners, clerks at NDA while Singh was the commandant there.
Ex-NDA chief to be grilled in job scam
Comment: The commandant is obviously privy to the scam and author of the same. He was cultivating 5 Star Culture and VIP status in the Academy. He should go down in NDA history as a scamster. The law should catch up and confine him in his rightful quarters.

The Army officer who wouldn't retire hurt

Pune: The Army officer who wouldn't retire hurt
Pune: In the summer of 1999, Lt Col (Dr) Samir Rawat was injured in the right leg while fighting against the Pakistan Army in Ladakh during the Kargil war. It was a serious knee injury that put an end to his active soldiering career, but the die-hard Rawat never let his spirits sag. The former tank trooper, who was still in service, started studying psychology. He acquired global certification in neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), transactional analysis, advanced hypnotherapy, wellness and health management, rehabilitation, psychological assessment and testing, and went on to become the first psychologist at the National Defence Academy (NDA).
He retired a week ago. His posting as a psychologist in a premier category (A) cadet training institution of the Indian Army meant he was involved in training, counselling and mentoring, besides which he used to conduct classes on leadership, moderation, stress management, resilience building and gender sensitivity for instructors and personnel below officer rank of the entire Indian Army who came to the NDA.
“I still remember the day of June 21, 1999, when I was posted in Ladakh Scouts in 5230 Batalik Sector, where even after ceasefire shelling was continued by the Pakistan Army,” Rawat says, adding, “During the shelling, shrapnel entered my right leg and I became unconscious.”
He was shifted by helicopter to a hospital nearly a month after he got injured. “I was operated in Command Hospital in Chandigarh and was on a wheelchair for nearly five months,” he says. “I was so passionate about the army and that I channelised my energies and opened a new window for myself — of scholarly pursuit.”
The officer then took study leave for two years and completed his PhD in psychology. His studies completed, he spent the last decade and more counselling the cadets in NDA. “These cadets have many problems; the first, immediate problem they face after entering NDA is that they become homesick,” Rawat says. “Many of them come from rural parts of the country, and so my first duty is to make them realised that irrespective of their social background their status in the academy is only of cadet.”
He says many times he had to go for personal counselling in the case of cadets who were unable to perform certain tasks or who had a phobia about such tasks during their training. “I remember a cadet who could not jump from a height of 10 metres into a swimming pool,” he says. “He was about to be removed from the academy when he came to me. I told him just one thing, that it was not a fear he had but an irrational belief that if he jumped he would die.”
He says the cadet was finally convinced to take the jump after he was told the army worked on trust and that he should have faith in his instructor. “I told the cadet to trust his instructor as the army is all about trusting others,” Rawat says. “Later he not only jumped from 10 metres, but also told me it was an amazing experience and that he would like to do it again. That was the moment of greatest satisfaction for me.”
Rawat says he has no regrets and it does not bother him that had it not been for his injury he might have reached a higher rank. “The army is a way of life,” he says. “How you contribute to it is more important than getting a higher rank. When I look back, I get great satisfaction that I didn’t lose the opportunity to serve the nation even after getting injured in the war. I was, in fact, fortunate enough to get an opportunity to see and take part in the Kargil operation.”
The Army officer who wouldn't retire hurt

Strike Corps Commander is new NDA Chief

Pranav Kulkarni : Thu Jul 26 2012, 00:44 hrs
In a significant development, Lt Gen A K Singh, currently the Corps Commander of Army’s prestigious Mathura-based 1 Corps, is likely to take over as the Commandant of the National Defence Academy (NDA) in the first week of August. Sources said he is likely to hold the office of the commandant till March 2013. Singh’s appointment is being considered one of the most high-profile Army appointments in the academy given that the office of the commandant is a staff appointment and it has not been headed by an officer who has commanded an operational formation of the level of a Corps. One of the principal offensive formations of the Indian Army, commanding 1 Corps is considered one of the most prestigious appointments of the Indian Army.
“Lt Gen A K Singh is likely to take over in the first week of August,” said an NDA official as another official confirmed the development. The appointment of the NDA commandant is currently being officiated by the deputy commandant Rear Admiral Anand Iyer after the former commandant Lt Gen Jatinder Singh was transferred post the CBI raids in connection with an alleged recruitment scam at the academy.
Lt Gen Jatinder Singh was supposed to retire in October-November. His early exit gave rise to speculation as to whether the new commandant would be an Army officer or an Air Force officer given that it is the IAF’s turn to send the commandant.
The logical promotion for a Corps commander is to be made an Army Commander. With the present Southern Army Commander likely to retire next year, in all likelihood, Lt Gen A K Singh after having held the office of the NDA commandant might become the GOC-in-C of the Southern Command.
“The Army sending a ‘high-profile’ officer as the commandant of the NDA is in itself a positive development. It will be good for the academy given that a general who has commanded an operational formation, that too 1 Corps, is bound to put things in the correct perspective at the academy,” said a retired officer.
NDA spokesperson refused to comment.
Strike corps commander is new NDA chief

NDA Scam: Will Senior Army Officers be investigated?

NDA scam: ‘Col A K Singh gave over a lakh to friend’
Express news service : Mumbai, Thu Jul 12 2012, 04:26 hrs
The Central Bureau of Investigation’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBI-ACB) on Wednesday said that of the Rs 74.5 lakh Col Anil Kumar Singh — the presiding officer of examinations at National Defence Academy (NDA) —received as bribe, Rs 1.5 lakh was given to his friend, a retired army officer. Col Singh’s friend in turn used the money to pay his son’s fees in Symbiosis College.
The CBI-ACB told CBI special judge D R Mahajan that at Col Singh’s behest, a witness burnt some documents on June 23 when they had raided the NDA. “Those partially burnt papers have been recovered and CBI wants to decipher the matter written on them,” said CBI special prosecutor Vivek Saxena, while seeking Singh’s CBI custody for six more days. He added that the CBI needs to recover the Rs 1.5 lakh Singh allegedly paid to the retired army officer.
The CBI-ACB also seized a pen drive and Singh’s laptop on Tuesday. “The CBI wants to confront Singh with the data recovered from the them,” Saxena told the court.
Singh’s counsel, S K Jain, objected to the CBI’s demand of extension of Singh’s custody. The court denied CBI Singh’s custody and remanded him in magisterial custody till July 25. “For the purpose of recovery of Rs 1.5 lakh which the accused allegedly gave a witness who paid it to Symbiosis College towards fees, the further CBI custody of the accused is not required,” the court said. The court added that Singh’s custody was not required for confrontation of the accused with the data recovered from the pen drive and laptop.
Singh immediately tendered his bail application, which will be heard on Thursday along with that of the other four accused — Col Kulbir Singh, staff officer to NDA commandant, Balkrishna Kanojia, a food stall owner, Kanojia’s employee Vishnu Prasad Sharma and NDA employee Ramesh Gaikwad.
Col A K Singh gave over a lakh to friend
Comment: The commandant Lt Jatinder Singh is responsible for the scam. He and his family financial dealings for the last five years must be investigated to get to the bottom of this scam.

CBI finds ‘money trail’ in NDA scam to Lt Gen Jatinder Singh

CBI finds ‘money trail’ in NDA scam, seeks to grill Lt GenRahul Tripathi, Manu Pubby : New Delhi, Wed Jul 11 2012, 21:43 hrs
The CBI has formally sought the Defence Ministry’s permission to question Lt Gen Jatinder Singh in the racket in recruitment of junior employees at the National Defence Academy (NDA), after allegedly establishing a “money trail” connecting him and his brother to the scam.
Lt Gen Singh, who was removed as NDA commandant last week for a “free and fair investigation”, is currently attached to Army Headquarters. The CBI is learnt to have shared details of its investigation into his alleged role with the ministry.
It is the first time that the head of the prestigious academy has come under such a cloud. Bribes of Rs 3-5 lakh were allegedly paid for jobs as C-grade employees at the NDA. The CBI is also looking at the role of other top officials.
The accused who are currently in CBI custody have reportedly confessed their involvement and also alleged that the top management at the Pune-based institution was involved. Col Singh was the staff officer to Lt Gen Singh at the academy and is the prime accused. Lt Gen Singh’s brother is learnt to work for a leading Indian business house.
“Our analysis is based on the call detail examination of the accused person and their meeting with the suspect,” said a top CBI official.
The agency is also investigating a meeting in Mumbai between Col Singh and the vice-chancellor of a leading university.
Apart from Col Kulbir Singh, the CBI has arrested Col A K Singh, who headed the NDA recruitment board. Raids across the country have yielded Rs 1.71 crore. CBI finds ‘money trail’ in NDA scam

NDA Recruitment Scam: Army Officers go high tech to spin money

Typing tests also held in Colonel’s office

Wednesday, July 04, 2012 AT 12:32 PM (IST)
PUNE: Col Anil Kumar Singh, presiding officer of exams, allegedly conducted typing tests of some candidates for appointment of civil employees in his office instead of the computer lab in the National Defence Academy (NDA), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) submitted in its report to a special court on Tuesday.
The court has remanded Col Singh to CBI custody till July 7. He was arrested on Monday after his anticipatory bail application was rejected by the court. The CBI told the court that Col Singh was admitted to the state-run YCM Hospital in Pimpri after he complained of high blood pressure on Monday night. So he was interrogated only for two hours on Tuesday morning.
He was produced in the court of special judge (CBI) D R Mahajan in the afternoon for seeking a 14-day custody. "We want to interrogate him to find out why three or four candidates were given the typing test in his office and not in the computer lab. Also, who sent the candidates to him," Deputy Superintendent of Police (CBI) Rajpal Singh told the court.
"We want to recover the list of candidates, which was deleted from the official computer and was taken by Col Singh in his pen drive," he added. His interrogation is required for checking the over-writing in the answersheets of the candidates. Also, the amount of Rs 52 lakh in bribe amount, allegedly given to him by another accused Col Kulbir Singh, is yet to be recovered, Singh said.
CBI special public prosecutor Vivek Saxena told the court, "After taking permission from the Union Home Ministry, we taped their conversation between June 7 and June 18. They used code language during the conversations. We would like to confront Col A K Singh with the recorded conversation and get more details about the job-for-cash scam."
The CBI told the court that it has appealed to the NDA authorities to station a military doctor at the CBI office so that he could conduct a check-up on Col A K Singh for any health-related problems.
NO SATELLITE PHONE
Defence sources told "Sakal Times"that"officially the NDA does not have any satellite phone." The CBI claimed to have recorded about 500 conversations of Col A K Singh and other accused, who used to talk on satellite phones about the collection of bribe money from the aspiring candidates.
Typing tests also held in Colonel’s office
Comment: Criminal minded officers are being posted to the NDA which is a premier training institute. Just imagine a physically unfit Officer is posted as the Physical Training Officer to the Academy. On his arrest he reports sick. The MS needs to be sacked for posting such criminal minded Officers to the NDA and bringing shame to the institute and military at large. There is a case for investigating the MOD and MS if they are taking bribes for lucrative postings to NDA. The ACR nine pointer system is a disaster. All 9 pointers Officers postings need to be thoroughly investigated.

Premier Military Training Institutions: Are they afflicted with corruption?

'No order yet on Lt Gen Jatindar's transfer'
Zee News Thursday, July 05, 2012, 13:14
Pune: A National Defence Academy (NDA) spokesman Thursday said it had not received any official communication "so far" regarding immediate transfer of Academy commandant Lt Gen Jatindar Singh, ordered by Defence Minister AK Antony.
"No official communication from Ministry of Defence (MoD) has been received at NDA in this regard so far", Lt Commander G Girish, PRO NDA said here.
Asked as to who is holding the charge at the Khadakwasla based Academy, embroiled in a bribery scam, he said "the status quo continues till we get official orders." A release issued by MoD in Delhi yesterday said, "Defence minister A K Antony has ordered that Lt Gen Jatinder Singh, Commandant NDA, be immediately shifted from the Academy. This is with the view to ensure a free and fair investigation in the alleged bribery racket in the recruitment of Group C posts in NDA, Khadakwasla." The CBI-ACB has arrested Col Kulbir Singh, staff officer to the NDA commandant, Col Anil Kumar Singh presiding officer of NDA's recruitment board and a few others in connection with the alleged scam that was unearthed on June 25.
Jatindar Singh had assumed charge of the premiere defence academy on January 1, 2011.
The NDA sources said training activities of the cadets of the 128th batch of the Academy were being carried out as usual. PTI
No order yet on Lt Gen Jatindar's transfer
Lt Gen under lens for recruitment scam shunted out
Defence Academy recruitment scam: AK Antony orders shifting of commandant Lt. Gen Jatinder Singh
Comment: Corrupt Officers leading the Training Establishments is very dangerous. All the nine pointer ACR Ratings are a suspect. How are the 9 pointer ACR reflected Corrupt Officers are to be weeded out. The only method now is to get hold of the reporting officers who are skewed in their judgement. Promotions based on ACR's will ruin the Military and its reputation will hit ground zero. We need to eliminate senior officers on physical and medical standards. The Medical records should not be fudged for promotions. Lt Gen Jatinder Singh is a classic case of poor Medical and Physical Standards. We need to gun for the corrupt and physically unfit officers and not depend on skewed ACR's for promotion.

NDA Commandant responsible for selecting corrupt Staff Officer

Colonel held for recruitment scam in NDA
Published: Monday, Jun 25, 2012, 9:07 IST
By DNA Correspondent | Place: Pune | Agency: DNA
An army officer of the rank of Colonel along with five civilians was arrested by anti-corruption bureau of the CBI on Saturday for allegedly receiving bribe from candidates during recruitment drive at National Defence Academy. The Colonel is deployed as staff officer to commandant of NDA, Lt Gen Jatinder Singh.
Besides Col Kulbir Singh (45), others arrested are Balkishan Charan Lal Kanojia (35), Vishnu Prasad Sharma (42), Ramesh Dilip Gaikwad (32), Dattaraya Eknath Shitkal (52) and his cousin Manoj Maruti Shitkal (32). The civilians are local residents.
The CBI has registered a case under the relevant sections of the IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act.
Acting on a tip off, CBI officials raided 14 places in Pune, Mumbai, Gurgaon and Sonepat, and recovered huge cash, which was allegedly taken by officials and their touts for recruiting subordinate staff like cook, gardener, library and laboratory attendants, cadet orderly and lower division clerks.
During the CBI raids, huge cash and documents like leaked question papers and list of candidates were seized.
As per the complainant, examination for recruitinglower division clerk, others was held on June 15. During investigation it was revealed that suspects entered into a criminal conspiracy to cheat the government and obtain illegal gratification from job aspirants for which the Colonel misused his position.
“Singh and Kanojia asked the candidates to only sign the answer sheets and leave them blank which could be filled in with correct answers by suspects so that the candidates could be recuited by the NDA.”
The team by Rajpal Singh, deputy superintendent of police (CBI-ACB), informed the court that, “the arrested persons are in possession of lists of persons who were to be appointed on account of gratification obtained from them. They also have fake answer sheets of such candidates.”
On Sunday, the six accused were produced before the court of special judge DR Mahajan who remanded them to police custody till July 2. Special public prosecutors of CBI Vivek Saxena and Ayub Pathan said the CBI has recovered cash to the tune to Rs83 lakh from Singh’s house and Rs92 lakh from other suspects.
Meanwhile, NDA has said that it has not received any official communication from the CBI on this issue. NDA maintained that Col Singh was detained by CBI when he was in Mumbai and was being questioned for certain irregularities during the recruitment of lower division clerks and Group C employees.
NDA has made it clear that it has not received any complaint about the recruitment process but was investigating the chain of events that led to detainment of Col Singh.
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_colonel-held-for-recruitment-scam-in-nda_1706324

NDA Staff officer in civilian recruitment scandal

India's premier defence academy reports recruitment scam
Reported by Rashmi Rajput, Imtiaz Jaleel, Written by Amit Chaturvedi | Updated: June 25, 2012 16:09 IST
Mumbai: A serving Colonel was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in Mumbai on Saturday after allegations of certain irregularities in the recruitment process for the post of Lower Division Clerks (LDC) and Group C employees in the National Defence Academy (NDA), Pune.
However, the NDA officials say that they were still awaiting details from the CBI.
Apart from Colonel Kulbir Singh, Staff Officer to the NDA Commandant, five other persons have also been named in the complaint regarding the recruitment which took place during the months of May and June 2012.
Colonel Singh has been charged under 120B, 420, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 13(1)(d) of Prevention of Corruption Act.
Reports say that the officer allegedly took Rs. 3-4 lakh from each person for a guaranteed appointment. He has also been accused of committing fraud in the examinations conducted for these posts.
The five civilians who worked as links between the candidates and the army officer include Balkrishna Charanlal Kanojia who runs a laundry at NDA and also owns two restaurants, Vishnu Prasad Sharma, Dattatrey Eknath Shitkal, Manoj Maruti Shiktkal and Ramesh Dilip Gaikwad.
According to the CBI, its officials conducted raids at 14 places in Pune and one each in Mumbai, Gurgaon and Sonepat and recovered Rs. 1.71 crore and some incriminating documents.
NDA Staff officer in civilian recruitment scandal

NDA in recruitment scandal: Army corruption seeps into training establishments

Army colonel arrested in NDA recruitment ‘scam’
Rajshri Mehta, TNN Jun 24, 2012, 02.49AM IST
MUMBAI: The CBI on Saturday arrested Col Kulwinder Singh, staff officer (SO) to Lt Gen Jatinder Singh, National Defence Academy commandant, in connection with complaints of graft over the appointment of 40 lower-division clerks in the NDA.
Singh, who belongs to the Guards regiment, was arrested from a friend's residence in the Colaba military station.
The SO is like a personal secretary responsible for smooth functioning of the commandant's office.
The NDA's spokesperson confirmed the arrest but said they were still awaiting details from the CBI. Rishiraj Singh, CBI joint director, refused to comment saying investigations were on in the recruitment scam. "We will cooperate with the CBI," a senior officer in the Army headquarters said.
The NDA had in February invited applications to appoint 40 clerks. According to information, the anti-corruption bureau of the CBI received a complaint of a scam in which people were allegedly being promised the job of a clerk in the NDA on the payment of over Rs 50,000, though they did not fulfil the eligibility criteria. Singh's name was mentioned as one of the alleged beneficiaries of the bribe being paid through a middleman. It is, however, not yet clear what role Singh has played in the alleged scam.
This is probably the first time a graft charge has been leveled against an officer attached to the prestigious academy in Khadakwasla, Pune. "Not everyone gets an opportunity to work as an SO. It depends a lot on whether the officer seeking appointment hails from the same regiment and shared a rapport with the commandant or similar high-ranking officer in a previous tenure,'' said an officer.
The NDA spokesperson said: "The CBI asked for some documents Singh was handling. We have provided the same."
In June 2010, the CBI had arrested an army officer and his accomplice for allegedly running a job racket, in which lakhs of rupees were collected from youngsters after promising them jobs in the army. The same month, Maj Dependra Bhushan, a medical officer at the Army Recruitment Office in Colaba, was arrested for allegedly taking bribe to clear candidates in the medical test.
"The episode does not surprise me, but makes me sad as it confirms how deep the rot is in the army,'' said a high-ranking officer.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-06-24/india/32393063_1_recruitment-scam-rishiraj-singh-cbi-joint-director
Comment: The Commandant is the real culprit who is using the SO. The CBI should investigate from the top as there is more to this dubious racket than what meets the eye. This is also another CBI diversionary tactics and initiative to delay the ongoing Adarsh and Tatra scams.

Manning Shortage another viewpoint

Lately, the media has been awash with reports of just 86 cadets joining the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun against a course strength of 250. And, instead of 300 applicants, just 197 boys turned up at the National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla, at Pune.
These media reports also highlighted the staggering number of officers who have sought premature release. Worse, this knell has rung at a time when the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force combined are already crippled by a shortage of 14,060 young officers. This should worry not just the ministry of defence but the nation, too, for like nation-building or statecraft, the war machine too depends on mettlesome leadership to deliver results. And young officers are the sword-arm of any force.
This plight has been blamed on the usual welter of reasons: unattractive salaries, tough working environment, limited growth opportunities, dimming respect for the Armed Forces in the society and a green civvy street.
Also, there were reports of the army chief hinting at conscription as a way out if the trend snowballs into a crisis. Given that conscription is an unworkable doctrine in India, I believe the allusion was the army chief's oblique attempt to remind the Sixth Pay Commission of the desperate straits he is in. Earlier, Defence Minister A K Antony had urged the Pay Commission to issue bumper pay-packets so as to help in retaining those itching to leave and to entice bright youngsters into signing up.
In short, both the defence minister and the army chief have apparently exhausted other options and have pinned their hopes on the Sixth Pay Commission to stem the peacetime attrition. What if the Pay Commission misfires? After all, Pay Commissions are a typical governmental exercise in jugglery, so it's foolhardy to be bullish about its sixth avatar being Santa Claus.
Let me be less sceptical and assume that the Sixth Pay Commission will shower manna on the services. Let's also assume that the brightest lads, unable to resist the alluring emoluments, flock to the armed forces' training academies. What if they lack the hardiness to endure the physically exacting regimen of military life? My point is: You need certain attributes to be an officer and a warrior, and many bright sparks need not have it in them to be service officers. The right recruits are those with an innate desire for soldiering and the capacity to endure hardships.
Though the intake to the corps of officers has been on the wane, the UPSC and the SSB (Services Selection Board) have not compromised on their standards; they continue to pick the right material. Had it not been the case, our army would have begun crumbling in the nineties under the onslaught of the inimical elements in J&K and the Northeast.
No doubt, the men and women serving in the forces need to be remunerated handsomely. But to zero in on paltry salaries as the sole reason for the jam is like mistaking the trees for the forest. I believe the solution lies in catching them young and priming them up to become the 'right material'.

Sainik Schools
The make-up of the officer cadre of the Indian armed forces a decade after Independence was disquieting for a Republic still writhing from the throes of its birth. It was a monopoly of the patrician, blue-blooded alumni of public schools and the so-called martial races -- the 'more-than-equal' gentry who had little in common with the men they led.
The officer cadre patently lacked the grassroots character and ethos of the newborn nation and needed to be 'Indianised'. The infrastructure to nurture the essential levels of physical, mental and intellectual calibre for induction into the officer cadre was found wanting in common schools. Since public schools were beyond all but the affluent, in 1960, then defence minister VK Krishna Menon envisioned Sainik schools -- at least one in each state -- to select boys from across the spectrum through an open entrance examination and to rear them for leadership in the armed forces.
The Sainik schools were modelled on public schools minus the elitism and snobbery. The syllabus-examination approach- the bane of our education system- was cast aside. These schools would aim at all-round development to enhance competitive and survival skills, and to foster personality development subliminally. To ensure mainly smart boys from the economically backward bracket joined these schools, the states were mandated to provide merit-cum-means scholarships. The campus life would be free from communal and social bias, and insulated from the rumpus that bedevil student life outside.
Given their background and grooming, they would identify themselves with the men they command. Sainik schools would thus serve as feeders to the National Defence Academy and the three service academies.
Did it work? Of course. The Sainik school cubs had their baptism of fire in the 1971 Indo-Pak war and emerged with flying colours. Remember how the young officers led their troops upfront, uphill, undauntedly through the cannonade to recapture the Kargil massifs? And last year, General Deepak Kapoor, a Sainik school product, took over as the army chief.

Some More History
The call to establish an Indian military college to raise an army officer cadre on the lines of the Royal Military Academy (Woolwich, later Sandhurst) and the United States Military Academy (West Point) was made in a Congress resolution way back in 1887. This demand was renewed subsequently at the Indian National Congress session of 1917. These ultimately led to the institution of the Indian Military Academy in 1932. This is a testimony to the vision and quality of leadership during the freedom struggle. Madan Mohan Malaviya confirmed this when he argued in the legislative assembly in 1928: 'The question whether a military academy shall or shall not be established is a question of life and death to the people of this country. The whole question of future government in this country hangs upon that question.'
This shows our leaders of yesteryear -- including the much-maligned Krishna Menon -- were tall visionaries compared to the present lot. Our unconcerned polity and their vision deficit are responsible for nudging the three services to the precipice, perhaps the consequence of defence ministers being appointed for reasons of narrow politics than their grasp of matters defence.

Solutions and Suggestions
1. In the past two decades, the profile of those joining the officer cadre and the students entering the Sainik schools has changed. Earlier, sons of officers followed their fathers' footsteps into the officer cadre. No more. Now boys from a lower pecking order are the ones joining the service academies, a sign of social mobility up the ladder.
As for Sainik schools, initially boys from indigent and not-so-rich background made it, but gradually they were replaced by those from the better-off stratum. Two reasons: one, in quest for sound education; two, given the steep rise in the fees, only the well-heeled could afford education in Sainik schools. Thus, Sainik schools, once acclaimed as the poor man's public schools, became unaffordable to the poor man!
Since the economic boom in the nineties opened several avenues, since their parents were paying up the fees, their wards were not motivated enough to see the armed forces as their profession. Naturally, the tally from Sainik schools dipped. Setting this right is a solution to the intake-deficit ailing the services.
The need to nurture and maintain the talent pool and its cost are an important dimension of overall defence planning. If the government is canny, it would regard the 22 Sainik schools (plus the five Military schools and the Rashtriya Indian Military College at Dehradun) as the catchment area-cum-nursery of the 'right material' not only to overcome the present shortfall of officers but also as an inexhaustible wellhead for future officers. The annual overhead of the 22 Sainik schools is nearly Rs 80 crores. That is less than 0.1 percent of the defence budget (Rs 96,000 crores for the year 2007-2008). The ministry of defence should pick up this tab as grant-in aid, not as largesse but as sagacious investment.
With aspirations booming proportional to the GDP growth, defence planners need to target the section of society likely to see becoming service officers as upward mobility and select boys from this segment to the Sainik schools. If 20 to 25 percent make it to the academies, the services will never face a shortage of officers. As for the rest, they will serve the country in other capacities. This will also accomplish the upliftment of those languishing on the margins of our society. Hence, the Centre footing the bill will provide a fresh lease of life to the Sainik schools currently fighting a battle for survival, with phenomenal returns on this investment. A win-win scenario. In brief, rediscover the Sainik school to bridge the shortfall.

2. The National Cadet Corps needs to be made universal and mandatory for two or three years at the school level. NCC, besides doing the students a world of good, should inspire a few to join the services.

3. Because of an article penned by this writer that appears in the Standard X English textbook in Maharashtra, I have had the opportunity to interact with thousands of students in the past 12 years. Many boys and girls had expressed their desire to don the uniform but, shockingly, most of them did not know how to go about it. Hardly anyone had heard about the various service academies. At a time when the services have to compete fiercely with the rest to attract talent, not hardselling the defence forces surely earns a C minus. As they say, if the mountain will not come to Mohammed, then Mohammed must go to the mountain.

4. As retention of officers is getting difficult by the day, it's time to rewrite the manpower policies so as to swell the cadre of short service officers. Many out there may be willing to serve the forces for five years.

5. Lastly, many officers have sought premature release for reasons other than lucre. Like elsewhere, corruption has been corroding the vitals of the services, and the skeletons tumbling out apace have severely dented its image. Few will be tempted to prefer a career in the forces if the slide downhill is not undone. It's time for the top brass to set the house in order. Besides, the services need to frame a modern appraisal system to ensure that only the deserving ascend the totem pole.

Flt Lt M P Anil Kumar (Retd)
A Former Indian Air Force Pilot
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Flt Lt Anil is a quadriplegic staying in the paralegic home at Kirkee, near Pune. He is one of the oldest inmates. This officer became a quadripligic in an accident ( Not plane accident). The only mobilty he has of the neck and hence he operates a computer with the help of a small stick, held in the mouth. He is a genius and writes well. His lessons in English is prescribed for x std students of Maharashtra. This young officer in his thirties is an inspiration to all living beings. All those dejected of life should learn from him, how to cope with adversity in real life.

PT Gangadharan
Brig (Retd)