Source: PIB & The Hindu
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has approved the Rules of Business for the newly created Department of Military Affairs (DMA) headed by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). Department of Military Affairs (DMA) was created under the Ministry of Defence with Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) as Secretary. It was created to facilitate optimal utilization of resources and promote jointness among the three Services
Subjects under DMA
The training policy, most of the training establishments and cadre management of the Services will be under the purview of the DMA.
As per the Second Schedule to Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules 1961, the following subjects were allocated to DMA;
- The Armed Forces of the Union, namely, Army, Navy and Air Force.
- Integrated Headquarters of the Ministry of Defence comprising of Army Headquarters, Naval Headquarters, Air Headquarters and Defence Staff Headquarters.
- The Territorial Army.
- Works relating to Army, Navy and Air Force.
- Procurement exclusive to the Services except capital acquisitions, as per prevalent rules and procedures.
- Promoting jointness in procurement, training and staffing for the Services through joint planning and integration of their requirements.
- Facilitation of restructuring of Military Commands for optimal utilisation of resources by bringing about jointness in operations, including through the establishment of joint / theatre commands.
- Promoting the use of indigenous equipment by the Services.
The Second Schedule to Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules 1961 clearly identifies the functions of all the five Departments of the Ministry of Defence and thus there will not be any duplication of functions among them.
Work of 23 sections along with around 160 Civilian officers and staff have been transferred from the Department of Defence to DMA.
The duties and functions of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) include the following:
- To head the Department of Military Affairs in the Ministry of Defence and function as its Secretary.
- To act as the Principal Military Advisor to Hon’ble Raksha Mantri on all Tri-Service matters.
- To function as the Permanent Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee
- To administer the Tri-Service organizations/agencies/commands.
- To be a member of Defence Acquisition Council chaired by Hon’ble Raksha Mantri.
- To function as the Military Advisor to the Nuclear Command Authority.
- To bring about jointness in operation, logistics, transport, training, support services, communications, repairs and maintenance, etc of the three Services.
- To ensure optimal utilisation of infrastructure and rationalise it through jointness among the Services.
- To implement the Five-Year Defence Capital Acquisition Plan and Two-Year roll-on Annual Acquisition Plans, as a follow up of Integrated Capability Development Plan.
- To assign inter-services prioritisation to capital acquisition proposals based on the anticipated budget.
- To bring about reforms in the functioning of three Services with the aim to augment combat capabilities of the Armed Forces by reducing wasteful expenditure.
The mandate of the Department of Military Affairs inter-alia includes “Facilitation of restructuring of Military Commands for optimal utilisation of resources by bringing about jointness in operations, including through the establishment of joint/theatre commands”.
