The Indian Army has recently ordered a cadre restructuring to resize the army which has about 39,000 officers and over one million men.
The last restructuring that was done in 2004 led to the reduction of age limit for colonels and brigadiers. The restructuring of the Indian Army will take into account the future requirements and how to make the military lean and mean.
Earlier, the Modi government had asked the Indian Army to cut down its teeth to tail ratio. The Indian Army which borrows very heavily from the past till recently had its own farms, cattle to ensure milk supplies for its cantonment. Similarly, it had an elaborate set-up to maintain its vehicles and a postal service as well.
These have been discontinued and the wings like the Ordnance and Supply Corps and Motor Transport Wing are being merged and some functions discontinued.
The committee to restructure the Indian Army will be under the wing of the army which decides on transfers and cadre strength.
The committee is scheduled to finalise its report by November 2018 to be considered by the Army and then the government.
The review comes as wage bills of the Indian Army continue to go up. In the ongoing fiscal (ending March 31, 2019), the Army salary bill is budgeted at Rs 80,945 crore and the pension bill at Rs 95,949 crore. In contrast, the modernisation budget is Rs 26,688 crore. india today
