S.K. Singh Army’s pick for vice-chief
The Army has proposed the name of Lt. Gen. S.K. Singh, who is currently heading the Jaipur-based southwestern command, for the post of vice-chief. The ministry of defence (MoD) is soon expected to announce its decision on the proposal. Current Army vice-chief Lt. Gen. A.S. Lamba retires at the end of October in 2011.
Well-placed sources told this newspaper that the Army has now decided that an officer appointed as vice-chief should have a long and meaningful tenure as the vice-chief plays a crucial role in defence acquisitions for the Army.
If he becomes vice-chief, Lt. Gen. Singh will have a tenure of more than two years till he retires from service.
“It has been observed that vice-chiefs have been having a tenure of a few months till their retirement from service. It was felt that there should be some continuity since the vice-chief plays a very significant role in acquisition for modernisation of the Army. That is why Lt. Gen. Singh’s name has been proposed for the post,” sources said.
There has been considerable debate on the role and appointment of the vice-chief in recent years. The government made it clear two years ago that the vice-chief is essentially the principal staff officer (PSO) to the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and that the Vice-chief need not necessarily be either the senior-most serving officer after the Army chief or the officer who has the seniority and service left to be the next Army chief.
This was made clear by the government after a controversy had broken out two years ago when the current Army chief Gen. V.K. Singh (who was then heading the Kolkata-based Eastern Command) was not made vice-chief. Lt. Gen. P.C. Bhardwaj’s name was recommended instead at that time by the then Army chief Gen. Deepak Kapoor for the post and the Government had agreed with the proposal. This had raised eyebrows at that time since Gen. Deepak Kapoor himself was appointed as vice-chief before taking over as Army chief.
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