Measures to enhance the combat capability of the Indian Armed Forces || The Shekatkar Committee Report

If you are soldier or a defence aspirant or you are just interested to gather knowledge about the Indian Armed Forces, you must read the Shekatkar Committee Report. The Report was taken up by the Ministry of Defence to frame key action points and roadmap for implementation.  A Committee of Experts (CoE) was constituted by Ministry of Defence under the Chairmanship of Lt. Gen. DB Shekatkar (Retd) to recommend measures to enhance combat capability and re-balance defence expenditure of the armed forces.  The Committee submitted its report in December 2016. In this article, we are going to cover Everything You Need To Know about this.

Who is Lt. Gen. DB Shekhatkar?

Lt Gen Dr D B Shekatkar is the President of Forum for Integrated National Security. He chaired Committee of Experts (Shekatkar Committee) constituted by Ministry of Defence Government of India to recommend measures to enhance defence capability and optimise defence expenditure of the armed forces. He retired as Director General of Indian Army’s Perspective Planning. He held an important appointment of Commandant of Infantry School & College, MHOW during his Army tenure. He was also a part of the Indian delegation responsible for negotiations with China about Indo-China border dispute.

Measures as recommended by the Committee

• Optimization of Signals Establishments to include Radio Monitoring Companies, Corps Air Support Signal Regiments, Air Formation Signal Regiments, Composite Signal Regiments and merger of Corps Operating and Engineering Signal Regiments.
• Restructuring of repair echelons in the Army to include Base Workshops, Advance Base Workshops and Static / Station Workshops in the field Army.
• Redeployment of Ordnance echelons to include Vehicle Depots, Ordnance Depots and Central Ordnance Depots apart from streamlining inventory control mechanisms.
• Better utilization of Supply and Transportation echelons and Animal Transport units.
• Closure of Military Farms and Army Postal Establishments in peace locations.
• Enhancement in standards for recruitment of clerical staff and drivers in the Army.
• Improving the efficiency of the National Cadet Corps.
• A total of 99 recommendations were forwarded for implementation to concerned agencies / stake holders.

Please keep in mind that we have tried to compile as much data as possible that is available in the public domain. Press Information Bureau of the Government of India mentions, "Full details of the Report and its recommendations are not being placed in the public domain as operational aspects of the armed forces have also been covered, disclosure of which is not in the interest of national security."

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Hi, I am Pranjay Varshney. I am pursuing my B.Sc. (Hons) in Electronic Science from University of Delhi. My dream is to join the Indian Army as an officer and I am very passionate about it. I like to write articles about Indian Armed Forces and various political and economic affairs. I spend my free time doing gymnastics, listening to music or watching movies.