More 'transparent' promotion policy for Army in the works
NEW DELHI: With heartburn over promotion and litigation a source of concern for the Army, a committee has been set up to recommend measures to make the promotion policy “more objective, transparent and fair“. The panel will submit its report to the defence ministry soon.
Restricted avenues at the senior level has led to a sense of stagnation and the government has sought to promote options like the short service commission (SSC) to reduce pension burdens and also keep the Army leaner and manned by competent officers.
Faced with mounting complaints about the promotion policy , especially the “quantification-based'' selection system as well as the existing practice to bifurcate promotion of Brigadiers and higher ranks into “command“ and “staff “ streams, the government had appointed the committee in mid-January to review the entire system.
The committee comprises two retired Lt-Generals -G S Katoch and A K Ahuja -who have been asked to suggest appropriate amendments in the quantified system of selection, as also changes in aspects like the method for calculation of vacancies, cutoff confidential reports required, special promotion reviews, zone of consideration, notional empanelment and the like.
Promotions up to the LtColonel rank in the Army , which has around 41,000 officers and 11.32 lakh soldiers, are time-bound if the requisite exams are cleared. The rank of Colonels and above are based on the result of selection boards in the steeply pyramidical promotional structure in the force.
“Only three to four from 100 officers make it to the Major General rank. So, there is obviously a lot of heartburn, with many good officers being passed over. Therefore, the promotion system needs to be revamped to ensure only merit, not any other consideration, is taken into account,“ said a senior officer.
The military secretary's branch, which handles all promotions and postings, has incidentally also come under a cloud with allegations of favouritism and wrongdoing in recent years. There has also been a huge controversy over the 2009 promotion policy for Colonels, called the “Command Exit Model“, in the backdrop of officers from the armoured corps as well as other arms and services claiming it was heavily skewed in favour of infantry and artillery officers, as was earlier reported by TOI.
Restricted avenues at the senior level has led to a sense of stagnation and the government has sought to promote options like the short service commission (SSC) to reduce pension burdens and also keep the Army leaner and manned by competent officers.
Faced with mounting complaints about the promotion policy , especially the “quantification-based'' selection system as well as the existing practice to bifurcate promotion of Brigadiers and higher ranks into “command“ and “staff “ streams, the government had appointed the committee in mid-January to review the entire system.
The committee comprises two retired Lt-Generals -G S Katoch and A K Ahuja -who have been asked to suggest appropriate amendments in the quantified system of selection, as also changes in aspects like the method for calculation of vacancies, cutoff confidential reports required, special promotion reviews, zone of consideration, notional empanelment and the like.
Promotions up to the LtColonel rank in the Army , which has around 41,000 officers and 11.32 lakh soldiers, are time-bound if the requisite exams are cleared. The rank of Colonels and above are based on the result of selection boards in the steeply pyramidical promotional structure in the force.
“Only three to four from 100 officers make it to the Major General rank. So, there is obviously a lot of heartburn, with many good officers being passed over. Therefore, the promotion system needs to be revamped to ensure only merit, not any other consideration, is taken into account,“ said a senior officer.
The military secretary's branch, which handles all promotions and postings, has incidentally also come under a cloud with allegations of favouritism and wrongdoing in recent years. There has also been a huge controversy over the 2009 promotion policy for Colonels, called the “Command Exit Model“, in the backdrop of officers from the armoured corps as well as other arms and services claiming it was heavily skewed in favour of infantry and artillery officers, as was earlier reported by TOI.
