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Army deletes ‘bulldozed’ Brig from NDC list

The Army has been forced to delete the name of an officer at the last moment from a list of 14 “finest” Brigadiers.

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Lt Gen HS Panag had insisted on having the officer who was not in the first 14

NEW DELHI: The Army has been forced to delete the name of an officer at the last moment from a list of 14 “finest” Brigadiers selected for the prestigious National Defence College (NDC) course, after the ministry of defence detected serious flaws in the selection procedure.

The embarrassing goof-up in selections for high-rank promotions and postings has come to light at a time when Lieutenant General HS Panag, chief of the Udhampur-based Northern Command, has gone to the defence minister against the Army chief for posting him out.

The scandalous twist to the Army list for the NDC course points to a deeper malaise. Sources say the particular Briga-dier was ironically “bulldozed” into the list by Gen Panag.

The brightest and best Brigadiers, who will go on to become Generals, are picked based on a detailed scoring system and nominated to the NDC in the Capital. The 47-week National Security and Strategic Studies course is unique in India and is attended by equally bright officers from the Navy, Air Force as well as the civil services.

During the course, the officers are exposed to higher political and strategic thinking, are lectured by renowned analysts and spend a week each in developed and third-world countries as state guests.

According to sources, the defence ministry has uncovered serious flows in the selection of the 14 Briga-diers for the course that began this week.

The process of selecting Brigadiers for the NDC is excruciating, beginning with a detailed preparation of the merit list based on their annual confidential reports, awards, honours and other criteria.

Each name on the merit list is then taken up and discussed in detail by a committee headed by the Army chief and comprising Army Commanders.

This time a list of 28 was made for a vacancy of 14. According to sources, during discussions General Panag pitched for two Brigadiers, including the one in question. It is not clear how the two Brigadiers, who were not among the first 14, finally made the list, since the Army chief and other Commanders were in attendance too.

Once the list was prepared in early November, the way the two Brigadiers, both posted in the Northern Command, made it was brought to the attention of the defence ministry, which sought an explanation from the Army headquarters.

A probe revealed the allegations against the particular Brigadier, the Sub-Area Commander of Udhampur, were true.

Army spokesman Colonel SK Sakhuja told DNA that the Brigadier “has yet not joined the NDC because of an investigation in a particular case”. Sources insist the Brigadier was facing the investigation even before the NDC list was prepared.
j_josy@dnaindia.net

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