Indian Army to undergo major reforms according to Shekatkar Committee’s recommendations says Arun Jaitley

In a major boost for the Defence Sector, the government on Wednesday announced that major reforms will be carried out in the Indian Army to enhance its combat capability.

The reforms will include redeployment of nearly 57,000 officers and other ranks as well as ensure better utilisation of resources.  

According to Defence Minister Arun Jaitley, perhaps for the first time after Independence, such a big and far-reaching reform process is being introduced in the Army.

Jaitley also said the reforms are not related to any particular incident and that the project had been going on much before the Doklam standoff. 

Jaitley said 65 out of 99 recommendations of the Shekatkar Committee have been accepted by the government. Shekatkar Committee was appointed in May last year to recommend measures to enhance combat capability of the armed forces. The committee had submitted its report in December.

The reform process will include the structural improvement of the National Cadet Corps (NCC).

The Defence Ministry said the reforms will be carried out by December 31, 2019.

"Implementation has begun with the decision of the Cabinet Committee on Security to close 39 military farms in a time bound manner," the ministry said.