With the government announcing the appointment of a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), the ongoing Army Commanders Conference (ACC) discussed the need for creating arrangements to enable effective integration, Army sources said on Wednesday.
“The government has approved CDS. There is need for creating arrangements and structures to synergise and which can pave way for effective integration. The ACC discussed requirement of a Joint Services Act. Currently each Service has an individual Act passed by Parliament,” a source said. A Joint Services Act on approval by the government will facilitate faster integration, the source said.
While no recommendations are being sent to the government, officials said a broad report on the deliberations and outcomes of the ACC is sent to the government.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day address, announced the appointment of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) who will be above the three Chiefs, a long-pending demand to bring in synergy and enable tri-Service integration.
A committee headed by the National Security Advisor has been constituted to finalise the modalities and the charter of the CDS with a mandate to submit the recommendations within 90 days. The CDS will act as the single-point military adviser to the government on military and strategic issues and will also oversee common service issues like procurement, training and logistics.
There is now a Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) comprising the three Service Chiefs with the seniormost as the Chairman. Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat recently took over as the Chairman COSC.
The ACC also discussed the restructuring of the Army headquarters which is part of the broader force modernisation for which some approvals have been accorded by the government. “It has been decided that restructuring in totality will commence on receipt of full government sanction to the proposals, whenever the same is received,” a source said.
