Move towards joint services commands: Rajnath Singh moves bill in Lok Sabha

Moving a step towards creation of joint services commands for army, air force and navy, the government on Wednesday introduced a bill in Parliament to empower designated military commanders to take charge of soldiers and enforce discipline, regardless of the service they belong to.

The Inter-services Organisations (Command, Control and Discipline) Bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha by defence minister Rajnath Singh, is the only legislative framework required for the creation of joint theatre commands - or new formations that will include units from army, air force and navy under a single military authority, based either on geographic location or function.

At present, soldiers from respective services are governed by different Acts of Parliament. For example, in a current joint services setup, an army soldier commanded by a navy officer would have to be sent back to his parent unit for any disciplinary proceedings. The navy officer does not have administrative powers over the said soldier.

Creation of joint services commands - the concept has not been finalised but all three services are likely to be split into five distinct commands - will require commanders to be given the authority to enforce discipline as well as administrative powers like conducting annual performance appraisals.

The submission in Parliament clearly refers to the upcoming theatre commands, with the bill stating that it will help "empower the central government to constitute inter-services organisation, by notification, which may include a joint services command, comprising of units or service personnel" subject to existing Acts governing the army, air force and navy.

"The proposed bill will essentially be an enabling legislation, which empowers the heads of the inter-services organisations to exercise effective command, control and discipline on all personnel of regular air force, army and navy and to persons of other forces as notified by the central government, who are serving in or attached to an inter-services organisation, without amending the respective Acts," Singh's submission to parliament reads.

The system is likely to include five joint services commands - western, eastern, northern, maritime, and air defence. Existing commander-in-chief level officers are likely to be integrated into these commands as staff officers, advising the theatre commanders. Efforts to finalise the contours of the new system are being led by CDS Anil Chauhan who is building consensus.