Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved certain decisions regarding re-organisation of Army Headquarters. The approval was given based on a detailed internal study conducted by the Army Headquarters, a defence ministry official said.
The decisions include creation of a separate Vigilance Cell under Army Chief with Tri-Services representation, an umbrella organisation under vice chief of army for enhanced focus on human rights issues and re-location of 206 Army Officers from Army Head Quarters to Formations and Units of the Field Army.
Presently, the vigilance function for the Army Chief is through multiple agencies and there is no single point interface. An independent vigilance cell will be made functional under the chief, the defence ministry said.
Accordingly, ADG (Vigilance) will be placed directly under the army chief for this purpose.It will have three Colonel-level officers (one each from Indian Army, Indian Air Force and Indian Navy). This will be done within the existing posts at AHQ.
In order to give high priority to observance of human rights convention and values, it has been decided to set up a special Human Rights Section headed by ADG (Major General rank officer) directly under the VCOAS. It will be the nodal point to examine any HR violation reports.
To enhance transparency and ensure the best of investigative expertise is available to the section, a Police officer of SSP/SP rank will be taken on deputation. A total of 206 officers will be optimized from AHQ and these officers will be made available additionally to Formations/Units of the Field Army. (UNI)
