news details |
|
|
| Present Army Chief won't get extension | | Army, Air Force, Navy to raise retirement age | |
BL KAK
NEW DELHI, DEC 21
The Union government has agreed to permit a change of tremendous importance in the country's three Services--to raise the retirement age of officers.
If the former Defence Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, had, in sheer secrecy, prepared the ground in this connection after protracted negotiations with the top brass of the Army, the Air Force and the Navy, AK Antony, present Defence Minister, has been found vigorously pursuing the proposal to raise the retirement age of officers across the board by two years.
The process set in motion appears to be completed in two phases. The first phase will see formal official anouncement about the raising of retirement age of officers of the Indian Army. This phase will, according to sources in the Ministry of Defence (MoD), also lead to a signifcant change in the present system--that is, reemploying retired middle-rung officers of the Army will not continue.
The second phase will see government anouncement about the raising of retirement age of officers of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Navy. The retirement age for all oficers in the Army, the Air Force and the Navy was raised by two years in 1998.
If the government had endorsed the proposal to raise the retirement age, when will a policy announcement in this regard become a reality? Fielding this question from EARLY TIMES, a senior officer of the Defence Ministry said that the anouncement will be made as part of the government's New Year Gift to the three Services.
Will the present Chief of Army Staff, Gen. JJ Singh, also get his retirement age raised? It was learnt that Gen. JJ Singh would not be covered under the new measure. As the increase in the retirement age would not be applicable at the level of Army Chief, the age of superannuation of Gen. JJ Singh would remain 62 years.
Meanwhile, the process has begun to finalise a draft for gazette notification. The new policy in respect of the cosuntry's three Services will be effective from the date it is notified.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
