Stage set for theaterisation of military as govt introduces Bill in Lok Sabha

The untimely death of General Bipin Rawat, India’s first CDS slowed down the military theaterisation process. This process is important in the event of a two-front war.

In a bid to empower the commanders of the tri-service organisations, the government on Wednesday introduced a Bill to take action against service personnel of the Army, Air Force and Navy.

This was introduced to ensure discipline and effective discharge of duties, amidst a renewed push for the threaterisation of the military. This is one of the longest awaited military reforms for the best use of the military's resources to fight wars in the future.

The Bill was introduced by Minister of State for Defence, Ajay Bhatt.

What is the The Inter-Services Organisations (Command, Control and Discipline) Bill, 2023:

The The Inter-Services Organisations (Command, Control and Discipline) Bill, 2023 seeks to bestow powers on the commander-in-chief, officer-in-chief or any other officer heading a tri-service organisation to take disciplinary and administrative action against personnel under them who are currently governed by the respective laws of the three services. The personnel are now governed under the Army Act, 1950, the Air Force Act, 1950, and the Navy Act, 1957.

The current legal framework of the armed forces has its limitations, when it comes to matters of tri-services a Hindustan Times report said.

Officers of one particular service lack the authority to exercise disciplinary and administrative powers over personnel belonging to another service. For example, a three-star general heading a joint command cannot acct against Air Force or Navy Personnel serving under him.

The lack of such powers with the heads of the inter-services organisations and joint establishments over personnel belonging to a service other than their own has a direct impact ton command, control and discipline.

In a statement, the government said, "as a consequence, the personnel serving in inter-services organisations need to be reverted to their parent service units for any disciplinary or administrative action. This is not only time consuming, but also has financial implications relating to movement of the personnel."

The government also pointed out that the problem becomes even more cumbersome when the disciplinary or administrative proceedings stem from the same set of circumstances, but involve personnel belonging to different services.

"Multiple sets of proceedings under the respective Service Acts are required to be initiated, which impedes expeditious disposal of cases, thereby affecting the standard of discipline," the government said.

The importance of a military theatre command:

The three services had been asked to submit a comprehensive report on the theaterisation and joint structure of the military. The process however slowed down following the untimely death of India's first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Bipin Rawat passed away in an unfortunate chopper crash. However the process gained steam again after the government appointed General Anil Chauhan as the CDS.

The Indian Army, Nav and Air Force have 17 commands together and the idea behind theaterisation was to set up four new integrated commands. They were the two land centric theatres, an air defence command and maritime theatre command.

This exercise would ensure better planning and military response. IT would also bring down the cost of operations in the near future.

With the appointment of a CDS came a clear policy on defence diplomacy. Under defence diplomacy comes jointmanship and visits of higher military authorities. In this the CDS become the central figure to ensure that this process goes on smoothly.

There are many challenges such as the possibility of a two-front war on the northwest and northeast borders. In such a scenario and the rising threat of cyber warfare, pinpointed military application becomes all the more crucial.