Moneycontrol News
As part of a restructuring exercise, the Indian Army is mulling over abolishing the rank of Brigadier to ensure parity with civil services.
The Army is planning to reduce the number of ranks from nine to six or seven, to ensure better career prospects of their cadres. Last month, Army Chief Bipin Rawat had called a high-level committee meeting to study various aspects of officer cadre restructuring. The committee, which was headed by the Military Secretary and a Lieutenant General Rank officer, will submit a report by the end of November this year.
According to the internal draft prepared for cadre review, abolishing the rank of Brigadier would effectively mean that Colonels who are approved for promotion will directly become Major Generals instead of Brigadiers in between, The Times of India has reported.
The draft also suggests that the rank of Lieutenant should be assigned to its Gentlemen Cadets in their last year of training at the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun, Uttar Pradesh. As a consequence of this, those who are being inducted into the Army would directly get the rank of Captain instead of first becoming Lieutenants. This will also impact the brigades or corps that the respective officer of rank will command.
On the issue of restructuring the ranks in the Indian Army to bring the system on par with IPS and civil services, an officer told The Times of India, “This will also help in restoring the status of a brigade commander, who is higher in the warrant of precedence than an Inspector General of police. But police IGs have been made equivalent to joint secretaries and enjoy a higher pay grade than Brigadiers."
The Army also noted that it takes an officer in the civil services 18 years of service to reach the rank of Joint Secretary. Meanwhile, in the military, it takes 32-33 years for an officer to reach the equivalent rank of a Major General due to the steeply pyramidical promotion structure of the armed forces. “Almost 80 out of 100 IAS officers become Joint Secretaries. Only five to six military officers out of 100 become Major Generals," another Army officer contended.
An Army spokesperson has clarified that this is a proposal as of now and requires comprehensive analysis before a concrete decision is taken.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
