Agencies
New Delhi, Sept 9: : The Indian Army is planning to shift the headquarters of the Rashtriya Rifles, which oversees the thrust against terrorists in Kashmir, from New Delhi to Srinagar.
A key cog in the anti-terror operations of the Indian Army, Rashtriya Rifles might soon find its head, the Director-General, in Srinagar. The Army is conducting its biggest ever restructuring exercise to make it more lethal by improving efficiency and plug the gaps in personnel distribution.
The change in the headquarters will accelerate the decision making and the execution of operations against terrorism. For example, the Assam Rifles, which has 45 Battalions and maintains the internal security in the Northeast and along the Myanmar Borders, has its headquarters in Shillong.
The Rashtriya Rifles is a counterinsurgency force having 65 battalions and is comprised soldiers deputed from other army units.
"It is logical that the head of the force is closer to the formation for quick decision making," said an officer on the condition of anonymity. The study is all-encompassing with its mandate covering every department and setup which includes the important Directorate Military Operations and the Military Intelligence.
The Army Chief, General Bipin Rawat, has stated that although there is adequate personnel deployed at each headquarter, a scarcity of troops arises in the battalions. In an attempt to counter this shortcoming, the army is planning to do away with the headquarters at the Brigades level.
The Indian Army is organised into Units, Brigades, which are comprised of three units, Division - having three Brigades under them, and Corps - which are comprised of three Divisions.
The Army Chief also mentioned restructuring the Directorates that handle the Information Warfare (IW) and the Public Information (PI), with plans being discussed about merging the two. The IW comes under the ADG Military Operations and the PI Comes under the ADG PI.
Speaking at a seminar on Social Media in Delhi the Army Chief said, "As was rightly brought out, do we need a directorate general of information warfare or can we (do it) within our own organisation, that is we have the ADGMO-IW, we have the ADGPI, can we amalgamate some of our existing resources and ensure that social media becomes part and parcel of our life in the army?"
Sources told that the Army is also studying the possibilities of merging Director General of Military Training (DGMT) and the Army Training Command.
The DGMT in Sena Bhawan, New Delhi, functions under the Deputy Chief of Army Staff and handles the policy formation for the Army, while the Army Training Command, which is mandated to execute these policies, is headquartered in Shimla. Both oversee training. |
