Lok Sabha
The Government has given ‘in principle’ approval to a proposal from the Army Headquarters for restructuring of the Officers’ cadre in the Army which would involve changes in the recruitment process. The restructuring proposal primarily involves reduction in the intake of Permanent Commissioned Officers, increase in the intake of Short Service Commissioned Officers, introduction of a Non-Technical Entry Scheme for Short Service Commission, increasing the In-service entry, etc. The common aspects of the above proposals of the Army will be applicable to the Navy and the Air Force, to the extent possible. As the detailed modalities for the revised structure of Officer’s cadre of the Army are not yet worked out, no time frame can be given at this stage for implementation of the proposal.
This information was given by Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in a written reply to Smt Sumitra Mahajan in Lok Sabha today.
DELAY IN ACQUISITION OF PHALCON AWACS
As per the current delivery schedule, the delivery of three AWACS to India is expected to be made in February 2009, September 2009 and April 2010.
The main reason for the delay is the late arrival of the first modified aircraft from Russia in Israel. The progress on the flight trials has also been slow since the required spares have to be shipped from Russia.
This information was given by Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in a written reply to Shri Adhalrao Patil Shivajirao and Shri Ravi Prakash Verma in Lok Sabha today.
Samir/RAJ