Immediate challenges for new Army Chief Bipin Rawat
General Bipin Rawat has taken over the reins of the 1.3-million strong Indian Army, at the weekend, for a three-year stint as its head. That is more time than any Army chief, since Gen Ved Malik in 2000. Advice galore will come his way at this stage because if there is a complex job anyone handles it is his.
Hierarchy
As the single man on the top of a hierarchy, officials line up at all times to take decisions from him. However, at the outset he must remember that one of the most successful chiefs in recent times was Gen Nirmal Vij and that success was largely due to his ability to trust and delegate responsibility and decision-making to his vice-chief and the principal staff officers (PSOs).
Gen Rawat’s appointment comes at the head of a controversy about his selection, with the rationale of his greater operational experience swinging the decision. That should not tie him down to only the operations domain to make a mark and overensure against security glitches which anyway are bound to occur.
His competent DGMO and connected staff of the MO directorate will work overtime as they always do. His operational experience will come to the fore when he has to advise the government on tricky issues involving response or pre-emptive actions and execute the final decisions.
 |
| One of the tasks for immediate attention is the security of the rear areas in J&K and Punjab. |
For much of his early days the new chief must get down to restoring self-esteem and functional balance. Attempting to take on too much is going to be counterproductive. It is not as if he is taking over a defunct organisation. It will be better to ask the PSOs to identify two or three key areas in their charter which need immediate focus to make a difference and where attention has been lacking in the past.
Many important appointments are lying vacant which must be filled on priority and with a mind to give viable tenures to senior functionaries. Operations (including intelligence and training), equipment (including ammunition), logistics and personnel form the quad on which all functioning is based.
On the operations side, he must get his advisers and training institutions to war game scenarios realistically, independent of the field armies and formations. There is a wealth of talent at these institutions under the Army Training Command which must contribute more than just training personnel.
Attention
One of the tasks for immediate attention is the security of the rear areas in J&K and Punjab. The Army’s garrisons are all vulnerable as the focus of security has been at the border where too there are glitches at the bases of the LoC.
There is a need to refocus training and awareness with a revisit to basics which is something all armies do from time to time. What the training side really needs is a reorientation to hybrid warfare, a subject perfunctorily treated at training institutions. It’s a tall order to train for both conventional and hybrid warfare and conventional being the basic must always take overriding priority.
However, the reality also cannot be ignored that the immediate threat is of the hybrid variety and a percentage of focus needs to shift there. Ammunition and equipment are already under sufficient focus but acquisition needs to be expedited.
The chief can facilitate better handling at staff levels through pragmatic policies on personnel who man these crucial jobs. Normal personnel policies must not apply and extended tenures with pragmatic continuity in each such organisation such as the Technical Manager Land Systems, Weapons and Equipment Directorate and some appointments in the Master General of Ordnance Branch need greater experience on the job.
Field storage of ammunition is another area which lags behind as a surge in ammunition acquisition could be expected in the near future. This must be funded adequately and no compromise in the technical requirements of ammunition storage must be accepted.
Management
It is in the field of personnel management where the Army will really need Gen Rawat’s expertise. Very few are aware of the nuances of policy handling and implications. He formerly headed the policy section of the Military Secretary (MS) Branch and is aware of the circumstances under which past decisions were taken; decisions which have led to much turbulence in the promotion system in terms of vacancies and selection for higher ranks. An early visit to this is the need of the hour.
There have been too many studies in the recent past and Gen Rawat is fully aware of the details of these. He need not initiate any more such studies and simply order a compilation of recent recommendations.
On the contentious policy which dictates the division of vacancies in the General Cadre (the cadre which assumes the command appointments upwards of unit level), a series of brainstorming sessions with all stakeholders should be conducted.
The unfortunate thing has been the lack of any open brainstorming or seminars on personnel management in the Army.
If these are transparently conducted and acceptable solutions to promotion policies are found early in his tenure, the new chief will have all the time to concentrate on far more important things such as the security of vulnerable rear areas, better artillery and air defence systems, getting a small arms family of weapons for the infantry, and the status of Army personnel with reference to other government servants and the anomalies of both the 6th and 7th Pay Commissions.
(Courtesy of Mail Today.)
Watch: