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No rivalry among Services, says Antony
| Over sharing of 156 additional senior level posts |
FOR A SOLUTION: Defence Minister A. K. Antony and Coast Guard Director-General Vice-Admiral R. F. Contractor arrive for the Coast Guard commanders’ meet in New Delhi on Wednesday.
NEW DELHI: Defence Minister A.K. Antony sought to put the lid on the jostling among the three Services over sharing of 156 additional senior level posts by stating that there was “no rivalry.” The Services were merely putting across their viewpoints and the government would find a solution palatable to all, he said.
“Take the example of the Sixth Pay Commission. Not only the Services, other government employees too have made representations. Is that rivalry?” he asked. “There is nothing wrong in each Service giving its viewpoint. We would ultimately find an amicable solution. The main thing is implementation of the second part [of a report aimed at accelerating promotions in the armed forces]. We want it at the earliest,” he said at a Coast Guard function.
The nub of the problem is the A.V. Singh Committee report. The government announced the implementation of the first part to speed up promotions at the junior to mid-level officers two years ago. However, creation of new posts at higher levels was first put on the backburner by the bureaucracy.
When Mr. Antony reopened the matter, the three Services were unable to come to an agreement. The Army felt the proportion of officers to its total strength was lower than that in the Air Force and the Navy. The allocation of the 156 additional posts would skew the proportion further.
Soon the other two Services joined issue and asked the Army to take care of its lot. Caught in the stalemate are officers who would have remained in service (and promoted) if the implementation is accelerated.
Mr. Antony acknowledged that there was no “justification” for the delay but steered clear from discussing the issue raised by the Army. “Now we are taking steps for speeding up [the implementation]. We will ultimately find a solution. We are at it and are very serious about it,” he said.
The Army says it has 0.15 per cent of its officers as Lt. Generals but the others have nearly 0.20 per cent in equivalent posts. If additional posts are created according to the present formula, the Army will have 0.20 per cent of its officers in the Lt. General rank and the Navy and Air Force 0.3 per cent, further aggravating the disparity.
In the Defence Staff Services College, a Rear Admiral (chief instructor) is junior to Brigadiers and at the Anadman and Nicobar Tri-Service command, the Brigadier General Staff serves under a Vice Admiral.
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