|
|
|
|
Articles: News | Republic Day has come again!
- Mr. mohan Konneti
| |
OUR ARMED FORCES
The Government of India is responsible for ensuring the defence of India and every part thereof. The Supreme Command of the Armed Forces vests in the President. The responsibility for national defence rests with the Cabinet. This is discharged through the Ministry of Defence, which provides the policy framework and wherewithal to the Armed Forces to discharge their responsibilities in the context of the defence of the country. The Raksha Mantri (Defence Minister) is the head of the Ministry of Defence. The principal task of the Defence Ministry is to obtain policy directions of the Government on all defence and security related matters and communicate them for implementation to the Services Headquarters, Inter-Services Organisations, Production Establishments and Research and Development Organisations. It is also required to ensure effective implementation of the Government's policy directions and the execution of approved programmes within the allocated resources. Ministry of Defence comprises of three Departments viz. Department of Defence (DOD), Department of Defence Production (DDP) and Department of Defence Research & Development (DDR&D) and also Finance Division.
Historical Background
A Military Department was created in the Supreme Government of the East India Company at Kolkata in the year 1776, having the main function to sift and record orders relating to the Army issued by various Departments of the Government of East India Co. The Military Department initially functioned as a branch of the Public Department and maintained a list of Army personnel.
With the Charter Act of 1833 the Secretariat of the Government of East India Company was reorganized in four Departments, including a Military Department, each headed by a Secretary to the Government. The Army in the Presidencies of Bengal, Bombay & Madras functioned as respective Presidency Army till April 1895, when the Presidency Armies were unified into a single Indian Army. For administrative convenience, it was divided into four Commands viz. Punjab (including the North West Frontier), Bengal, Madras (including Burma) and Bombay (including Sind, Quetta and Aden).
The supreme authority over the Indian Army vested in the Governor General-in-Council, subject to the Control of the Crown, which was exercised by the Secretary of State for India. Two Members in the Council were responsible for military affairs, one of whom was the Military Member, who supervised all administrative and financial matters, while the other was the Commander-in-Chief who was responsible for all operational matters. The Military Department was abolished in March 1906 and it was replaced by two separate Departments, the Army Department and the Military Supply Department. In April 1909 the Military Supply Department was abolished and its functions were taken over by the Army Department. The Army Department was redesignated as the Defence Department in January 1938. The Department of Defence became the Ministry of Defence under a Cabinet Minister in August 1947.
Organisational Set-Up And Functions
On August 15, 1947, each Service was placed under its own Commander-in-Chief. Under the Constitution, the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces vested in the President. In 1955, the title of Commander-in-Chief was abolished and the three Service Chiefs were designated as the Chief of the Army Staff, the Chief of the Naval Staff and the Chief of the Air Staff. In November 1962, a Department of Defence Production was set up to deal with research, development and production of defence equipment. In November 1965, the Department of Defence Supplies was created for planning and execution of schemes for import substitution of requirements for defence purposes. These two Departments were later merged to form the Department of Defence Production and Supplies. In January 2004, the Department of Defence Production and Supplies has been renamed as the Department of Defence Production. A Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister was appointed to advise him on scientific aspects of military equipment, research and design of equipment used by the Defence forces. In 1980, the Department of Defence Research and Development was created.
The Armed Forces are primarily responsible for ensuring the territorial integrity of the nation. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the country. The Ministry of Defence, provides policy framework and wherewithal to the Armed Forces to discharge their responsibility in the context of the defence of the country.
Indian Army
The basic responsibility of the Army is to safeguard the territorial integrity of the nation against external aggression. Due to the country’s long borders encompassing different geographical and climatic conditions such as desert terrain on the west, snow-covered mountains in the north and thick rain fed mountainous jungles in the east, the Army has to constantly prepare itself for diverse challenges. In addition, the Army is often required to assist the civil administration during internal security disturbances and in the maintenance of law and order, in organizing relief operations during natural calamities like floods, earthquakes and cyclones and in the maintenance of essential services. Demands on the Army have increased manifold due to continuous deployment of its forces in intense counter insurgency operations in Jammu & Kashmir and the North East parts of the country. To achieve these objectives, the Army has to be constantly modernized, suitably structured, equipped and trained.
The Indian Army is organized into five regional commands
· HQ Central Command, Lucknow
· HQ Eastern Command, Calcutta
· HQ Northern Command, Udhampur
· HQ Western Command, Chandimandir
· HQ Southern Command, Pune
In addition, there is an Army Training Command at Shimla for the purpose of laying down the training policy for the Army.
The Indian Army is divided into the following two broad categories:-
Arms
Arms cover those troops, which carry out actual operations. They consist of :
· Infantry (including air-borne and mechanized)
· Armoured
· Aviation
· Artillery
· Air Defence Artillery
· Engineers
· Signals
· Intelligence
These are organized into units and sub-units at various echelons of commands.
Services
The remaining components of the Army are the Services. Their primary duty is to provide the logistic and administration for the Army.
| Be first to comment on this Article!
| |
|
|
|
 |
| Advertisements |
|
|
|
|
| Advertisements |
|
