Army cadre review to benefit 1.45 lakh men

New Delhi: The proposal to upgrade rank structures in the Army that will benefit about 1.45 lakh junior commissioned officers and from other ranks has been approved and is in the final stages of issue at the defence ministry, the Adjutant-Gen-eral has informed the ongoing Chiefs’ Conclave, an Indian Army release said on Friday.

The upgradation is to take place over span of five years and will endow higher career progression of the men so that “legitimate aspirations of the rank and file are met”.

The last cadre review for the Army was done in 1984. Another important decision conveyed, which this newspaper has already reported on Friday, is that the government will soon announce a decision to induct women into the ranks, including combat roles, with initially about 800 inductions in the Corps of Military Police (CMP) starting with about 50 a year. This decision assumes significance in the backdrop of increasing cases of crimes against women and reports of gender-specific cases of sexual harassment which has resulted in a much more greater need for investigations into such cases.

Another important gender sensitive decision intimated is the setting up of two medical facilities at Bhopal and Guwahati to assist childless couples in conceiving through IVF. These are in addition to the ones at Delhi, Pune and Mumbai.

The defence ministry has also agreed to start two premier residential Army Public Schools at a cost of Rs 100 crore which will have a capacity of 2,000 children each and are likely to come up at Bhopal and Mamun in Punjab.

The annual army chiefs’ conclave aims at apprising the former army chiefs of the recent developments in the force as well as to utilize the collective wisdom of the retired top army officials in form of suggestions and inputs.