The Indian Army is likely to cut over 150,000 troops over the next four to five years under an overarching cadre review that seeks to sharpen the force’s effectiveness and prepare it for future wars, two officers familiar with the move said on Sunday.
The cadre review, ordered on June 21, covers wide-ranging issues including cutting the personnel strength of the 1.2-million strong force and merger of different verticals to optimise its functioning, as reported by HT on August 13.
An 11-member panel, headed by the military secretary Lt Gen JS Sandhu, is carrying out the review and is expected to make its preliminary presentation to army chief General Bipin Rawat by the month-end before submitting its final report in November.
“Merging of some verticals and rationalising roles are likely to result in cutting 50,000 troops over the next two years. A reduction of 100,000 more personnel may be possible by 2022-23. But all this is in the study phase right now,” said one of the officials cited above.
The troop reduction is likely to be achieved through revamping different verticals including directorates at the army HQs, logistics units, communications establishments, repair facilities and other administrative and support areas, the second official said.
The cadre review order flagged concerns about how multiple verticals of the army had expanded over the years, despite technology infusion into the system.
“The line between verticals has got blurred, resulting in duplication of charters and associated manning. There is a definite case for reviewing the number of verticals with the aim of restructuring within the vertical as also merging where necessary/possible so as to arrive at economies of scale,” said the order, which has been seen by HT.