BAGGA COMMITTEE REPORT
RAJYA SABHA
A committee was set
up under the Chairmanship of the Special Secretary, Ministry of
Defence on Jul 16, 2001 to examine Army Headquarters proposal
for the re-structuring of the officers’ cadre of the Army. The
Committee identified two inter-related issues at the core of the
structural imbalances referred to by the Army Headquarters i.e.
high age profile and cadre stagnation. In order to achieve the
objective of bringing down the age profile and to improve the
promotional prospects, certain short term and long term measures
have been recommended by the Committee. The short term measures
include additional deputational vacancies and lateral absorption,
tenures outside the Army, exit through voluntary severance scheme
and creation of additional appointments.
A lean regular cadre
and an enhanced support cadre have been identified as the ideal
long term solution to lower the age profile in the Army. The necessary
ratio between regular support cadres and measures to make the
support cadre more attractive, have been recommended to be worked
out pragmatically.
Since the recommendations
encompass a wide spectrum service related issues, no specific
time-frame for implementation can be indicated.
This information
was given by the Defence Minister Shri George Fernandes in a written
reply to Shri Nandi Yellaiah in Rajya Sabha today.
