General Bipin Singh Rawat has been appointed as first ever Chief of Defence Staff and will take charge on Wednesday. During the media confrontation after his appointment he said that Army restructuring, weapon modernisation and non-contact warfare were some of the highlights of his tenure as Chief of Army staff and will look to implement same dedication for the new responsibility handed to him.
Gen. Rawat reviewed the ceremonial Army Guard of Honour on Tuesday morning before handing over charge to Lt. Gen. M.M. Naravane.
“Till now I was Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) and my mandate was limited to the roles and responsibility I was assigned. Now, when I am given a new responsibility, I will think and work according to the new responsibility and vigour,” Gen. Rawat said.
Ahead of takeover by General Bipin Singh Rawat, the government issued a notification on the setting up of the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) within the Ministry of Defence. The notification issued by the Cabinet Secretariat, dated December 30, 2019, states that the CDS will head the DMA and function as a Secretary to the government.
As per the guidelines approved by the government last week, the CDS will be a four-star General and will also function as the Principal Military Adviser to the Defence Minister and as the Permanent Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC).
The DMA will be the first department in the MoD. At present the existing ones are the Department of Defence, Department of Defence Production, Department of Defence Research and Development and Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare.
The armed forces will be brought under the wing of the DMA headed by the CDS, who will deal with issues relating to the three Services and procurement exclusive to the Services except capital acquisitions, as per prevalent rules and procedures. The broad mandate of the CDS includes bringing about jointness in “operations, logistics, transport, training, support services, communications, repairs and maintenance of the three Services, within three years of the first CDS assuming office.”
