Chief of Defence Staff (CDS): General Bipin Rawat, the first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of India, passed away in a tragic helicopter crash on December 8 in Tamil Nadu's Coonoor. He was aboard an IAF helicopter, Mi-17V5, along with 13 others. Group Captain Varun Singh is the lone survivor of the crash while 13 people have succumbed to their injuries.
As we mourn the loss of our topmost military leader, let us have a look at the role and powers of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).
Chief of Defence Staff (CDS)
The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) is a four-star general from any of the three services, namely. the Indian Army, the Indian Air Force, and the Indian Navy. The appointment of the CDS is done on the basis of merit-cum-seniority of the military officer. His salary is equivalent to that of a service chief.
The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) administers the operations of the three forces-- the Indian Army, the Indian Air Force, and the Indian Navy.
The Chief of Defence Staff also plays the role of military advisor on important defence and strategic issues for the Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of India.
The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) coordinates long-term planning, training, procurement and logistics of the three army wings.
It is said that CDS is a dual-hatted role. This refers to the two hats that the CDS wears-- one hat of the permanent Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee which has the three service chiefs as members (a military role) and the other of the Head of Department of Military Affairs (DMA) in the Ministry of Defence (a government role).
Functions of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS)
The functions and duties of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) are as follows:
1- To head the Department of Military Affairs in the Ministry of Defence and function as its Secretary.
2- Principal Military Advisor to Minister of Defence on all Tri-Service matters.
3- Permanent Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee.
4- To administer the Tri-Service organizations/agencies/commands.
5- To be a member of the Defence Acquisition Council chaired by the Minister of Defence.
6- To function as the Military Advisor to the Nuclear Command Authority.
7- To bring about jointness in operation, logistics, transport, training, support services, communications, repairs and maintenance, etc of the three Services.
8- To ensure optimal utilisation of infrastructure and rationalise it through jointness among the Services.
9- To implement Five-Year Defence Capital Acquisition Plan and Two-Year roll-on Annual Acquisition Plans, as a follow to of Integrated Capability Development Plan.
10- To assign inter-services prioritisation to capital acquisition proposals based on the anticipated budget.
11- To bring about reforms in the functioning of three Services with the aim to augment combat capabilities of the Armed Forces by reducing wasteful expenditure.
Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) in India: History
The proposal for setting up a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) post has been contemplated around 20 years ago after the Kargil war of 1999 by the K. Subrahmanyam committee but it never moved forward due to the absence of political consensus and apprehensions among services.
Later in 2012, the Naresh Chandra Committee recommended the appointment of a Permanent Chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC), but it too never moved.
On 15 August 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech from the ramparts of Red Fort announced the creation of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) post.
On 31 December 2021, a day before his retirement as the Indian Army Chief, General Bipin Rawat was elevated to the post of CDS. He served as the first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of India until his demise in a tragic chopper crash on December 8.
It is to be noted that the next CDS will be announced by the government within a week. Indian Army Chief General MM Naravane is the senior-most officer in the military and can be elevated to the post of CDS, as per sources. He was appointed as the Indian Army Chief on 31 December 2019.
Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhary became IAF Chief on 30 September 2021 while Admiral R Hari Kumar took over as the Chief of Naval Staff on 30 November 2021.
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