Facing flak for doing away with seniority principle in selecting the next Army chief, the Government on Sunday tried to justify its decision by maintaining that due process was followed in opting for lt- General Bipin Rawat keeping in view prevailing security environment and requirements. Rawat superseded two officers including senior-most lt- General Praveen Bakshi and lt- General PM Hariz.
Defending Rawat’s selection for the top job, Government sources said here the incoming chief has more than ten years of experience in counter-insurgency operations. He was also posted on the line of Control (loC) and served a stint in Eastern Sector facing China. Vast operational experience on the Pakistan and China fronts, officials said, gave Rawat the edge over others.
In contrast, Bakshi, an Armoured Corps officer and now heading the Eastern Command, mostly served in the plains of India including Punjab and Rajasthan. Similarly, Hariz, a Mechanised Infantry officer and now chief of Southern Command, also had little operational experience vis-s-vis Pakistan and China, they said.
Rawat has tremendous experience in serving in combat areas, and at various functional levels in the Indian Army over the last three decades. He has handled various operational responsibilities in many areas, including
along the loC with Pakistan and the line of Actual Control (lAC) with China, and in the North-East.
He was found the best suited among the lt-Generals to deal with emerging challenges, including a reorganised and restructured military force in the North; continuing terrorism and proxy war from the West, and the situation in the North-East, sources said.
Elaborating upon the selection procedure, sources said the selection of chief of Services is based on a process that commences four to five months in advance with Ministry of Defence seeking personal data and professional profiles of all eligible lt-Generals from amongst the Vice-Chief of Army Staff and General Officers Commanders in Chiefs of Commands.
The Service Headquarters (HQ) forward data of the eligible candidates including their professional exposures, achievements and operational experience. These are processed by the Ministry and forwarded through the
Raksha Mantri for consideration and selection to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by the Prime Minister.
This committee is the authority to make final selection based upon the inputs provided by the Service HQ, Ministry, as well as any other additional information that may assist in the selection of the Service Chiefs, for the assignment that involves strategic management of national security. In the selection and nomination of Rawat as the Chief of Army Staff designate, due process was followed considering prevailing security environment and requirements, sources insisted.
Incidentally, this is the second time in more than three decades that the seniority criterion was overlooked. In 1983, then Vice-Chief of Army and senior-most officer lt-General SK Sinha was superseded and his junior lt-General A Vaidya was made the Army chief. Sinha resigned in protest.