First GSL issued: India set to have a leaner, meaner Army

New Delhi, Aug 21: Formal instructions on the restructuring of the Indian Army have been issued by the Ministry of Defence. Called the Government Sanction Letter (GSL), this would lead to the creation of separate wings to deal with internal vigilance and human resources policies.

The move would also reduce over 200 officers from Delhi. Currently there are around 1,000 officers posted at the headquarters in New Delhi. They would be sent to formations.

The first part of the GSL is aimed at making the Indian Army leaner and ready for a 21st century war. The second part, which would be issued today would aim at merging a few directorates of the Indian Army.

The second part would also include the merger of the two weapons and system procurement agencies, apart from creating a new post of Deputy Chief. The new Deputy Chief would coordinate with the military intelligence, operations and the logistics wings.

Further the creation of a consolidated information warfare wing is also expected. This would subsume the two existing wings of the DGMI and the DGMO. In addition to this the DG (Military Training) wing would be merged with the Army Training Command based in Shimla.