New Delhi: The General-rank officers of the Army will now either execute administrative duties only or lead troops in operational formations, according to a new promotion policy implemented by the force.
The new policy for Major Generals and Lieutenant Generals categorised them into either staff or command streams based on their merit, Army sources said on Wednesday.
Under the policy, which had come into effect from January 1 this year, officers under the staff stream will perform only administrative tasks while the command stream officers will get to lead troops in field formations.
The change in the promotion policy came in the backdrop of Ajai Vikram Singh Committee (AVSC) report which was implemented in December last year thereby creating 75 additional Major General and 20 Lieutenant General posts.
Officers in the respective streams would, however, get no opportunity to change streams while moving up the career ladder. Also, the promoted officer would be allotted a stream on a pro-rata basis keeping in view the availability of staff and command posts at any given point of time.
This, in effect, would mean that once a Major General or a Lieutenant General was placed in staff stream, he would not get opportunity to command an operational formation.
"The new policy has been in discussion at the Army Commanders' Conferences for the last two years and came into effect from January one this year," sources said.
Asked if there was any opposition from senior ranks as the policy could deny opportunity for deserving officers, the Army headquarters vehemently denied any such dissent, be it oral or written, from any quarter.
They said as per the new policy, first mooted by General K Sundarji when he was army chief in late 1980s, a Major General, once selected into staff stream, would take up posts such as Chiefs of Staff of a Corps or a Command Headquarters, or head an Area Headquarters, which are administrative posts.
On the other hand, a Major General from the Command stream would head operational formations such as a Division and once promoted as Lieutenant Generals, would command a Corps and get the opportunity to become Army Commanders and Vice Chief.
The Army currently has about 40 operational Divisions and six Commands -- Udhampur-based Northern, Pune-based Southern, Kolkata-based Eastern, Chandimandir-based Western,
Jaipur-based South-Western and Shimla-based Training Commands.
The policy was first implemented for 15 Major Generals, who were promoted to Lieutenant General rank in January this year.
Army headquarters then sent the selected officers in two separate lists -- 10 for command and five for staff stream -- to the Defence Ministry for final clearance, the sources said.
The system was based on a merit-ranking system taking into account the annual confidential report (ACR), which include parameters such as courses attended, commands held, and awards received.
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