New Delhi: There is a growing view among the chiefs of three services that the new Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) to be appointed by the Modi government should be empowered to take decisions and it should not just be a cosmetic change. While Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh on Tuesday said that he wants CDS to be an “empowered one”, another chief of the service in an interaction with this newspaper echoed the same sentiment.
“My expectation is that it should be an empowered CDS. It should be able to make a difference. It is a historical decision by the Prime Minister. I hope CDS is suitably empowered for carrying out all the responsibilities which are given,” said the Navy Chief.
He said that the views of the three services are being taken care of by the chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC). Army chief General Bipin Rawat is currently chairman of COSC.
“We had meeting and conveyed all our requirement to the chairman COSC. COSC then became part of the implementation committee,” said the Navy Chief.
Another serving chief of the services said that the CDS should be able to give direction which are followed. “The main point is that CDS should have powers to give direction, otherwise CDS will not mean much. It should not be a cosmetic change,” he said. He said that it doesn’t matter whether CDS is four star or five star officer. “Power to direct is what will define the CDS and not the stars,” he said.
The defence ministry on Monday in a written reply had informed the Rajya Sabha that a report had been received from the implementation committee which was created to determine the exact resp-onsibilities of CDS and all other issues involved to ensure smooth operationalisation.
