Army chief General Bikram Singh on Wednesday spelt out a slew of measures for the personnel — pertaining both to modernisation of the force as also aimed at higher satisfaction levels and improved quality of life — while addressing an Army Day function here.
The General said right from setting up a new Mountain Strike Corps to upgrading the mechanised forces, improving the artillery units or acquisition of night vision devices, the force was undergoing all round development as per a time-bound plan. He said efforts were also being made to improve the road and rail infrastructure along the borders.
The Army chief said superior firepower and equipment were essential for enhancing the respect of the country among the comity of nations. “For India to have its rightful place, it is essential that the Army becomes a capable, effective, responsible and contemporary power.”
General Singh also spoke about how the Army has got approvals from the Government for several new plans. He had mentioned in his annual media interaction earlier that while 17 contracts worth nearly Rs 11,777 crore have been signed, another 23 worth nearly Rs 12,000 crore were in the pipeline. “The government has approved some plans while for the others the approval will come by the end of the fiscal,” he said.
The General also spoke about the overall improvement in the level of satisfaction among Army personnel. He said this was reflected in the decrease in the number of suicides, fratricides and incidents of indiscipline.
The Army has also increased the intake of officers to overcome the shortage. The shortfall will go down from 20 per cent at present to around 10 per cent by 2018, General Singh said.
The General, who had a couple of days ago described the issue of ex-Servicemen as something “very close to my heart”, said the Army has started building old age homes for its retired personnel. While one has already come up at Chandi-ka-Mandir in Panchkula, another one is envisaged at Lucknow. However, the personnel would have to pay for accommodation in these and they would not come for free.
On the other welfare measures, the General said the Army would strive for the “one rank one pay” system and is also looking at providing home loans at low interests, pension for mentally and physically challenged children and enhanced family pension as means of improving the satisfaction levels among its personnel.
PM absent from Army Day reception
Later in the day, the Army also organised a reception at Army House, which was presided over by the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, President Pranab Mukherjee, and was attended among others by Vice-President Hamid Ansari and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was, however, conspicuous by his absence.
