POSTINGS OF NEWLY PROMOTED LT GENERALS

After a gap of nearly two months between the de-classification of promotion board results for the rank of Lt Gen, the Army HQs has finally released the posting orders of some officers along with the posting orders of those whom they are relieving.

It is surprising to note that the number one on the merit list, Maj Gen PS Mehta, armoured corps, has not been posted as a Corps Commander but has been promoted in situ with local rank of Lt Gen.
He is at present posted as MGGS Western Command and this means that he will continue to hold this appointment in the rank of Lt Gen. This also means that for some time the HQs Western Command will have three Lt Generals posted on its strength with a three star General functioning as MGGS. It is not fathomable why the General Officer has been denied a appointment as a Corps Commander in this first lot of postings.

The other postings include that of Maj Gen Amarjit Singh as GOC 2 Corps. He is from the Bihar Regiment and is at present posted in the COAS Secretariat.

Maj Gen Rajeev Tiwari will move as GOC 9 Corps. He is posted at present in Army War College and is from armoured corps.

Maj Gen Sarat Chand moves from the RR directorate as GOC 4 Corps. He is a Garhwal Rifles officer.

Lt Gen P Bakshi, the present GOC 9 Corps, will move as Chief of Staff Northern Command while Lt Gen AK Ahuja, GOC 4 Corps, will move as DCIDS (PP&FD).

DE-CLASSIFIED LIST OF MAJOR GENERALS EMPANELLED FOR LT GEN IN THE SELECTION BOARD

Here is the list of officers who have been selected for promotion to the rank of Lt Gen in the Command and Staff Stream as well as Staff Stream alone. Many congratulations to all General Officers in the list and may they have successful tenures in the days and years to come.

WHY THE DELAY IN ANNOUNCING RESULTS OF PROMOTION BOARDS FOR RANKS OF LT GEN AND MAJ GEN?

The Army’s promotion board results for the ranks of Major General and Lt General have been inexplicably delayed which may result in many deserving officers losing their chance to get promoted and many may retire in their present rank itself.

The Army had conducted a selection board for the promotion of Major Generals to Lt Generals in April this year. It is learnt that there are around 17 vacancies for the rank of Lt Gen in the Command and Staff streams. As many as 65 Major Generals were considered for these vacancies.

According to sources in Army HQs, the Military Secretary’s branch had completed the formalities at the Army’s end and forwarded the board results to the Ministry of Defence in May itself. After the MoD gives the nod, the appointments are then put up to the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet for the final approval following which the promotion board results are de-c classified and the officers are promoted as per their seniority and merit.

These officers who will be cleared in this promotion board results will be cleared to pick up appointments in the Command as well as Staff Stream as per their merit. Those approved for Command stream will go on to command a Corps while the others will be posted to staff appointments in Army HQs or static formations like GOC of an Area, Chief of Staff of a Command  or a staff appointment in Army HQs.

Normally the promotion board results are out within a period of two months. However, since the board results have been delayed by at least a month and, sources say, are not likely to be cleared within the next one month too, many officers stand to lose their chance at promotion because their date of retirement is approaching. Thus even if they are approved by the promotion board, they will not be able to pick up their rank.

The predicament is also acute for many officers who may not be able to command a corps despite having been approved in the Command Stream. This is because an officer needs to have a residual service of at least three years on the day the board results are declared in order to get the appointment of a General Officer Commanding of a Corps.

In fact, this is not the only category of officers affected by delay in announcement of promotion board results. Sources say the promotion board results of Brigadier to Major General rank have also been delayed.

In this instance, the board was held in the first week of May this year. There were 45 vacancies of Major Generals for which 125 Brigadiers were considered. Here again many officers will retire from service if the MoD does not de-classify the results soon.

Sources in MoD say that while the initial delay in declaring the results was because of the general elections and the wait for a new government to take over, the present delay is unexpected

Needless to say that many officers lower down in the merit for the rank of Major General and Lt General will immensely benefit if those in higher order of merit either retire from service or are over-age for some key appointments.

Sources inform that several officers are now planning to approach the Principal Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal in New Delhi to seek legal remedy and to force the MS Branch of the Army HQs and the Ministry of Defence to get speedily on this issue.

  

High-handedness of senior officers

Often some senior officers in the defence services feel that they can get away with anything. And more often than not, they do get away. And this emboldens them.
Take for example, the case of a Lt General who is serving as Chief of Staff in one of the commands of the Army. He, under the influence of pliable officers, who have compromised his position as well, has posted an officer of the Judge Advocate General's branch to the Quartermaster General's branch in the Command HQs. Now, all of us who are familiar with the way the Army functions know that this is absolutely ridiculous. Can, for example, an officer of the Army Medical Corps be posted to command a supply battalion? JAG branch officers can only be posted to appointments which are contiguous with their legal qualifications. But then, the less said about the JAG branch and the influence it generates over officers of the other arms and services, the better. It is a vice-like grip which gets its nourishment from the illegal acts and rampant corruption on part of senior officers.
There has been an ongoing battle between the direct-entry JAG branch officers and those who get side-stepped in the branch from other arms. The present instance of the JAG officer being side-stepped is one of the symptoms of this disease which has now all the signs of consuming this branch. Not that the Army HQs does not know about the happenings in this particular command and the high-handedness of the three star general. But the rot is too wide-spread to be contained.