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Saturday 3 March 2012

Ministry of Defence uses age as a tool for manipulation



Ministry of Defence uses age as a tool for manipulation

Apart from redeeming his honour, General VK Singh’s age row might or might not have achieved any tangible results for the Chief but one thing is for certain, it has brought to the fore the ways of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) in manipulating the Armed Forces and its officer corps. A bureaucracy which jumps at every opportunity to  hold on to its chair beyond the retirement age irrespective of the means, has made sure that General VK Singh retires by a date of its choice even though everyone within and outside acknowledge his professionalism and uprightness. There is a lingering doubt in everyone’s mind that the age row drama had been enacted to curtail the retirement age of General VK Singh on purpose. “Had there been the slightest blotch in him, either in his professionalism, integrity or character, he would have been crucified” says a serving officer.
Now that this age row has ended without much ado, there is yet another age related scam waiting to blow up in the face of the Government.  The promotion board of officers of the rank of Brigadiers to Major Generals and Major Generals to Lieutenant Generals were held in Oct last year and the board proceedings have been sent to the MOD for approval. Since then the files have been moving forth and backwards between the MOD and the Army Headquarters on one pretext or the other without the results being declared. If the officers are to be believed, it may take yet another month or two. The result - Corps sized field formations are leaderless and the period available to accommodate a long list of aspiring officers to Criteria Command exposures has been effectively blocked.
Army officers believe that this delay, like in the case of General VK Singh may have deep routed intent. Why is the Ministry delaying the declaration of the results when the criteria and the entire lot of data based on which the board finalized its proceedings are available with the Ministry for its perusal? In all probability, it has everything to do with the date on which the approval is accorded as by delaying the date, many would have retired before the declaration of the results while some may miss out on the residual service needed to get appointments such as Corps and Army Commanders. Without serving in these appointments, an officer cannot be considered for promotion to a higher rank. Also, some, being low in the list may be left little time to pick up the next rank as the required number of vacancies may not come up before his date comes up for retirement.  Isn’t someone accountable in the MOD for being unfair to the officers?    
Wasn’t General VK Singh tricked into giving a certificate accepting 1950 as his year of birth in the interest of service so that the results of the Promotion Boards are not delayed as a result of him insisting on correcting his date of birth? Do we see a similarity in both the issues? Yes, age and consequently the date of declaration of the result appears to be emerging as a convenient tool in the hands of the bureaucracy to either eliminate or prop up an individual of their choosing. Some say that this arm twisting is breeding a set of self seeking senior Army officers who become subservient to the civil bureaucracy and would not hesitate to do anything to please the Babus to achieve their ends. This will definitely have an adverse effect on the professionalism and also the apolitical status of the Defence Forces. No wonder the Army Officers are disgusted and the standoff between the Army and the MOD continues to haunt the defence services.
There is a partial solution if someone cares to listen. Instead of making the date of declaration of the results as the qualifying date for calculating the residual service, why not make the date on which the promotion board was held as the effective date? Or why not give a specific timeframe for approving the promotion board results, failing which the approved list in the promotion board proceeding be accepted as approved? These measures of course are not exhaustive considering the capability and ingenuity of the bureaucracy to circumvent the deadline. 
Is this delay, yet another scam or a mischief played by the MOD on the vacancy starved Armed Forces? Is this yet another means to tame the Armed Forces like the way the bureaucracy have gone about conditioning the Police forces in the country? Do we in this country need the Defence Services to go the Police way? It may be worthwhile investigating into the delay and analyze the list of gainers and losers to identify the purpose and design if any. This perhaps will dispel the apprehensions and doubts in the minds of the Defence Services.
Is the defence Minister listening? 



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