Indian Express
Sushant Singh
October 12, 2015
At the top of the nine-point agenda is the planning and execution of infrastructure works in the 12th Plan, which has been raised by Kolkata-headquartered Eastern Command
The bi-annual Army Commanders’ Conference starts on Monday in New Delhi, and it will deliberate upon infrastructure works on the China border in Eastern Command, state of border roads, and consolidation of defence land. The highest-level military conference, which will go on till Friday, will also discuss the shortage of officers. At the top of the nine-point agenda is the planning and execution of infrastructure works in the 12th Plan, which has been raised by Kolkata-headquartered Eastern Command. Sources in the Eastern Command said that almost all the planned works required for new forces raised for China border — including roads, accommodation, ammunition sheds, railway lines, bridges and airfields — have been delayed. Besides problems with land acquisition, a major reason for the delay has been the ongoing dispute about use of local labour for construction.
The seven Army Commanders will also discuss the performance of the Border Roads Organisation or DGBR. The DGBR moved under the control of Defence Ministry from the roads ministry earlier this year. In May, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence had criticised the DGBR for the poor state of strategic Indo-China border roads.
The Works of Defence Act 1903, which imposes certain restrictions upon the use of land in the vicinity of defence constructions, is also scheduled to be reviewed during the conference. The Act and its guidelines had come to prominence in the wake of south Mumbai-based Adarsh housing society controversy, where a high-rise building had been given permission for construction in the vicinity of Army establishments. The conference will also discuss the plans for consolidation of defence land, finalise land norms and approve plans for reconciliation of pre-independence era land records.
A 2013 CAG report had found that 14,539.38 acres of defence land was under encroachment as of July 2009. The CAG report had also pointed out that as of March 2010, 2500 acres of land — valued at Rs 11,033 crore — was on lease for an annual rent of only Rs 2.13 crore. The ongoing shortage of officers in the army is another subject of deliberation before the senior commanders. Even though the army has been able to bring its officer shortage down from 26 per cent in 2010 to 18 per cent now, it is still struggling to subscribe to all the vacancies in training academies. Four hundred and thirty five of the 2,642 vacancies were unused in the current calendar year. The army is authorised 49,737 officers and was holding 40,525 officers as on 1st July this year. It hopes to reduce this shortage from 18 per cent to 12 per cent by 2021.
It plans to commission an additional 1000 officers, which will cater to 500 new accretions and make up existing shortages at the rate of 1 per cent every year. Meanwhile, the defence ministry is already working on a tri-service roadmap on reducing officer shortages in the armed forces. Even within the army, a detailed study on the intake of officers is being undertaken by DG (Recruiting). The army is also working on long-term plans to make all 10+2 entries (NDA and TES) for permanent commission while other graduate entries (UES and DE) will be for granting short-service commission. But these plans will only be put in place if short-service commission, at 10 years and extendable by another four years, becomes an attractive proposition. The army commanders’ conference will also discuss issues pertaining to married accommodation in high-pressure stations and construction of pre-engineered building by the Military Engineering Service. A study of the revised recruitment system, a review of educational scholarships and concessions and integrated development of sports in the army is also on the agenda of the conference.
