Ministry of Defence (India)

Coordinates: 28°36′50″N 77°12′32″E / 28.61389°N 77.20889°E / 28.61389; 77.20889
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Ministry of Defence
South Block, Secretariat Building, New Delhi
Ministry overview
Formed15 August 1947; 76 years ago (1947-08-15)
Preceding Ministry
  • Department of Defence (1938–47)
JurisdictionGovernment of India
HeadquartersSecretariat Building
Raisina Hill, New Delhi
28°36′50″N 77°12′32″E / 28.61389°N 77.20889°E / 28.61389; 77.20889
Employees1,400,000[1][2] (active personnel) (2023)

700,000[3] (reserve personnel) (2023)

200,000
Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee
  • Giridhar Aramane, I.A.S., Defence Secretary
    Secretary (Defence Production)
  • Niten Chandra, IAS, Secretary (Ex-Servicemen Welfare)
  • Dr. Sameer V kamath, Secretary (Defence Research and Development)[6]
  • Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy, Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister[7][8]
  • Rashika Chawbe, IDAS, Financial Advisor
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    The Ministry of Defence (MoD) (Hindi: रक्षा मंत्रालय; romanized: Raksha Mantralay) is charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the ceremonial commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the country. The Ministry of Defence provides policy framework and resources to the armed forces to discharge their responsibility in the context of the defence of the country. The Indian Armed Forces (including Indian Army, Indian Air Force, Indian Navy) and Indian Coast Guard under the Ministry of Defence are primarily responsible for ensuring the territorial integrity of India.

    As per Statista, MoD is the largest employer in the world[9] with 29.2 lakh (2.92 million) employees.[10][11][12]

    At present, the undergoing new creation of

    third in military expenditure in the world,[13][14][15] among countries of the world.[16]

    History

    A Military Department was created in the Supreme Government of the

    English East India Company at Kolkata in the year 1776, having the main function to sift and record orders relating to the Army issued by various Departments of the Government of East India Company. The Military Department initially functioned as a branch of the Public Department and maintained a list of Army personnel.[17]

    With the

    Burma), Madras and Bombay (including Sindh, Quetta and Aden).[17]

    The supreme authority over the Indian Army was vested in the Governor General-in-Council, subject to the control of the Crown, which was exercised by the Secretary of State for India. Two members in the council were responsible for military affairs. One was the Military Member, who supervised all administrative and financial matters. The other was the commander-in-chief who was responsible for all operational matters.[17] The Military Department was abolished in March 1906 and was replaced by two separate departments; the Army Department and the Military Supply Department. In April 1909 the Military Supply Department was abolished and its functions were taken over by the Army Department. The Army Department was redesignated as the Defence Department in January 1938. The Department of Defence became the Ministry of Defence under a cabinet minister in August 1947.[17]

    Post independences changes

    The functions of MoD which in 1947 was mainly logistic support to the armed forces, has undergone far reaching changes. In November 1962, following the 1962 war, a Department of Defence Production was set-up to deal with research, development and production of defence equipment. In November 1965, the Department of Defence Supplies was created for planning and execution of schemes for import substitution of requirements for defence purposes. These two Departments were later merged to form the Department of Defence Production and Supplies.

    R.K.S. Bhadauria, the Defence Secretary, Ajay Kumar, the Secretary (Defence Production) and the Secretary, Raj Kumar, Department of Defence R&D and chairman, DRDO, G. Satheesh Reddy
    .

    In 1980, the Department of Defence Research and Development was created. In January 2004, the Department of Defence Production and Supplies was renamed the Department of Defence Production. A Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister was appointed to advise on scientific aspects of military equipment and the research and design of defence forces equipment. The Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare was created in 2004.[citation needed]

    Organisation

    Departments

    The Ministry of Defence consists of five departments; Department of Defence (DoD), Department of Military Affairs (DMA), Department of Defence Production (DDP), Department of Defence Research and Development (DRDO), and Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare (DESW). The

    Defence Secretary of India functions as head of the Department of Defence,[18][19] and is additionally responsible for coordinating the activities of the departments in the ministry.[18][19]

    The principal functions of all the departments are as follows:

    Universities and institutes

    Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, Defence Institute of Psychological Research and National Defence University
    come under administration and purview of the Ministry of Defence.

    Inter-services organisations[19]

    Integrated Defence Staff

    Main article: Integrated Defence Staff

    To ensure a high degree of synergy between the Armed forces, the Government has set up the Integrated Defence Staff, headed by the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff as the chairman. It was created on 1 October 2001 based on the recommendations of the Group of Ministers which was set up in 2000 (post-Kargil) to review India's defence management.[28] It acts as the point organisation for integration of policy, doctrine, war-fighting and procurement by employing best management practices. The chairman of Integrated Defences Staff is a 4-star General (or his equivalent in the Air Force or the Navy).

    The first Chief of Defence Staff was General Bipin Rawat, who took over on 1 January 2020.[29]

    Chiefs of Staff Committee

    "Chiefs of Staff are the authority for advising the Defence Minister and normally through him the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs on all military matters which require ministerial consideration". The Integrated Defence Staff is '"the principal arm and Secretariat to the Chiefs of Staff Committee".[30][31]

    Composition

    The Chiefs of Staff Committee is composed of: (a) Chief of the Army Staff (COAS); (b) Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS); (c) Chief of the Air Staff (CAS); and (d) Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) (non-voting member). The Scientific Adviser to the Minister of Defence is invited to attend whenever needed.[30]

    The senior most member of the COSC is appointed its

    chairperson. General Bipin Rawat was the last head of COSC.[32]

    The position of COSC has ceased to exit with the creation of Chief of Defence Staff.

    General Bipin Rawat was appointed the first Chief of Defence Staff in 2019. He died in a helicopter crash on 8 December 2021.

    Role

    The responsibility for national defence "rests with the Cabinet, which is discharged through the Ministry of Defence, which provides the policy framework and wherewithal to the Armed Forces to discharge their responsibilities in the context of the defence of the country. The Raksha Mantri (Defence Minister) is the head of the Ministry of Defence."[17]

    The Defence Ministry is responsible for "obtaining policy directions of the Government on all defence and security related matters" and communicating these directions to "Services Headquarters, Inter-Services Organisations, Production Establishments and Research and Development Organisations".[17] The MoD works closely with the National Security Council, Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs.

    Ministers

    MoD is headed by the Minister of Defence, who is supported by one, or more than one, minister of state.[17]

    Minister Designation Portfolio
    Rajnath Singh Minister of Defence Overall responsibility.
    Ajay Bhatt Minister of State for Defence Charter of duties includes secondary logistic and administrative functions.

    Senior officials

    There are about 400,000 defence civilians, under the MOD including Ministry of Finance personnel attached to MOD. In 2015–16 Defence pension bill was ₹54,500 crore (equivalent to ₹780 billion or US$9.8 billion in 2023) of which about 36 per cent was on account of defence civilians.[66]

    Defence Secretary, other senior officials and Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister

    See also: Defence Secretary (India) and Defence Production Secretary

    The ministers are supported by a number of civilian, scientific and military advisers.

    The Defence Secretary as head of the Department of Defence,[18] is the senior most civil servant in the ministry and is responsible for coordinating the activities of the four departments in the ministry.[18] His/her role is to ensure that the MoD operates effectively as a department of the government.[33][34][18] Defence Secretary is assisted by additional secretaries and joint secretaries to Government of India posted in the ministry. The Defence Secretary, generally, is an officer from the Indian Administrative Service, apart from the Defence Secretary, there are three other secretary-level posts in the Ministry of Defence.

    Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister plays a key role in formulation of research and development policies and promoting self-reliance in Indian defence industries.

    Senior officials in the Ministry of Defence[35][36][37][38]
    Name Designation
    Giridhar Aramane, IAS Defence Secretary
    Giridhar Aramane, IAS Secretary (Defence Production)
    Niten Chandra, IAS Secretary (Ex-servicemen Welfare)
    Sameer V. Kamat
    Secretary (Defence Research and Development) and chairman, DRDO
    Sanjiv Mittal, IDAS Financial Adviser

    Civil services under MoD

    Civil Services under the Ministry of Defence
    S. No. Name of service Group
    1 Indian Naval Material Management Service A
    2 Border Roads Engineering Service A
    3 Defence Aeronautical Quality Assurance Service A
    4 Defence Quality Assurance Service A
    5 Defence Research and Development Service A
    6 Indian Defence Accounts Service A
    7
    Indian Defence Contract Management Service
    		 A
    8 Indian Defence Estates Service A
    9 Indian Defence Service of Engineers A
    10 Indian Naval Armament Service A
    11 Indian Ordnance Factories Service A
    12 Indian Ordnance Factories Health Service A
    13 Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Services B

    Finance Division

    The Finance Division of the Ministry of Defence is headed by the Financial Adviser (Defence Services). The financial advisor exercises financial control over proposals involving expenditure from the Defence Budget and is responsible for the internal audit and accounting of defence expenditure. In the latter tasks, the financial advisor is assisted by the Controller General of Defence Accounts.

    Chiefs of the tri-services and Defence Staff

    In 1955, the title of Commander-in-Chief was abolished and the three service chiefs were designated as the Chief of the Army Staff, the Chief of the Naval Staff and the Chief of the Air Staff. The heads of the three services of Indian Armed Forces are:

    Vice Chiefs of the tri-services

    Initiatives

    SRIJAN portal

    The SRIJAN is a portal launched by MoD in order to take up the products imported for indigenisation. According to Ministry; it displays defence products that have been imported recently and will tag with the Defence

    Public sector undertakings, Ordinance Factory Board and others in order to push for its domestic manufacturing for exports in future.[39]

    See also

    References

    1. ^ "Press Information Bureau". Archived from the original on 15 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
    2. ^ "20% Sailor Shortage in Navy, 15% Officer Posts Vacant In Army, Nirmala Sitharaman Tells Parliament". 27 December 2023.
    3. ^ IISS 2023, pp. 243–248
    4. ^ "Report of the 7th Central Pay Commission of India" (PDF). Seventh Central Pay Commission, Government of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
    5. ^ {https://prsindia.org/files/budget/budget_parliament/2024/Interim_Union_Budget_Analysis-2024-25.pdf}
    6. ^ "Defence Secretary of R&D DRDO- Defence secretary R&D". Drdo.gov.in. Archived from the original on 15 May 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
    7. ^ "DRDO". Archived from the original on 17 June 2018. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
    8. ^ "Defence Secretary of R&D DRDO". Drdo.gov.in. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
    9. ^ "Indian Defence Ministry : नौकरी देने में रक्षा मंत्रालय दुनियाभर में सबसे आगे, अमेरिका व चीन भी पीछे". Amar Ujala (in Hindi). Retrieved 29 October 2022.
    10. ^ "The World's Biggest Employers". Statista Infographics. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
    11. ^ "India's Ministry of Defence is the world's biggest employer with 2.92 million people: Report". Times Now. 29 October 2022. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
    12. ^ "With 2.92 million people, Indian defence ministry is world's biggest employer". The Times of India. 29 October 2022. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
    13. Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
      . Retrieved 19 February 2018.
    14. OCLC 13119119
      . Retrieved 19 February 2018.
    15. OCLC 23379369
      . Retrieved 18 February 2018.
    16. ^ Tian, Nan; Fleurant, Aude; Wezeman, Pieter D.; Wezeman, Siemon T. (April 2017). "Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2016" (PDF). Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
    17. ^ a b c d e f g h "ABOUT THE MINISTRY". Ministry of Defence, Government of India. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
    18. ^ a b c d e f "About DoD". Department of Defence, Government of India. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
    19. ^ a b c d e f g "Annual Report (2016-17)" (PDF). Ministry of Defence, Government of India. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
    20. ^ "Cabinet Secretariat Notification" (PDF). Gazette of India. 30 December 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
    21. ^ "Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 (As Amended up to 31st January, 2017)" (PDF). Gazette of India. 31 January 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
    22. ^ "Cabinet approves creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff in the rank of four star General". Press Information Bureau. 24 December 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
    23. ^ "Govt sets up Dept of Military Affairs to be headed by Chief of Defence Staff". Hindustan Times. 24 December 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
    24. ^ "Cabinet Secretariat Notification" (PDF). Gazette of India. 30 December 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
    25. ^ "About The DDP". Department of Defence Production, Government of India. Archived from the original on 4 February 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
    26. Defence Research and Development Organization
      , Government of India. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
    27. ^ "About DESW". Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare, Government of India. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
    28. ^ "About IDS > History". Integrated Defence Staff. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
    29. Press Information Bureau of India
      . 3 November 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
    30. ^ a b "THE CHIEFS OF STAFF COMMITTEE". Integrated Defence Staff. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
    31. ^ "Welcome message from Chief of Integrated Defence Staff". Integrated Defence Staff. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
    32. ^ "Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa gets baton of COSC chief". The Hindu. 29 May 2019.
    33. ^ "ABOUT THE MINISTRY". Ministry of Defence, Government of India. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
    34. ^ "Who is Who: Organisation Structure and officers of the Ministry of Defence of Republic of India". Minister of Defence. Archived from the original on 11 March 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
    35. ^ "Who's Who". Department of Defence, Ministry of Defence Government of India. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
    36. ^ "Who's Who". Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, Government of India. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
    37. ^ "Who's Who". Department of Ex-servicemen Welfare, Ministry of Defence, Government of India. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
    38. ^ "Dr G. Satheesh Reddy, Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman, DRDO". Defence Research and Development Organisation, Department of Defence Research and Development, Ministry of Defence, Government of India. Archived from the original on 15 May 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
    39. ^ "rajnath-singh-launches-online-portal-srijan-to-promote-indigenisation-in-defence-production". Retrieved 2 September 2020.

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