Recruitment of Gorkha Youth
Recruitment of Gorkha Youth
There is no decline in the recruitment of Gorkha youth in the Indian Army. Indian Navy (IN) and Indian Air Force (IAF) do not hold separate data relating to recruitment of Gorkha youth.
Indian Army does not require community certificate by ‘Assam GorkhaSammelan’ and certificate signed by village Sarpanch meets the requirement of enrolment in Gorkha Units. In the case of IAF, Gorkhas (a subject of Nepal) are eligible for recruitment if they meet laid down eligibility criteria. Further, recruitment in IAF is open to all eligible citizens without any discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, religion, region or community. In the case of Indian Navy, Gorkhas who are citizens of India do not require any certificate of eligibility for recruitment in the Navy. Further, Gorkha subjects of Nepal also do not require a certificate of eligibility.
This information was given by Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar in a written reply to Shri B Vinod Kumar in Lok Sabha today.
Indian Army does not require community certificate by ‘Assam GorkhaSammelan’ and certificate signed by village Sarpanch meets the requirement of enrolment in Gorkha Units. In the case of IAF, Gorkhas (a subject of Nepal) are eligible for recruitment if they meet laid down eligibility criteria. Further, recruitment in IAF is open to all eligible citizens without any discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, religion, region or community. In the case of Indian Navy, Gorkhas who are citizens of India do not require any certificate of eligibility for recruitment in the Navy. Further, Gorkha subjects of Nepal also do not require a certificate of eligibility.
This information was given by Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar in a written reply to Shri B Vinod Kumar in Lok Sabha today.
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Manufacturing of Helicopters
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) in May 2015 for procurement and co-production of Russian Helicopters in India. No contract has been concluded in this regard between the two countries. Other projects under discussion with Russia include tanks, aircraft, ships etc.
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Unidentified Aircraft
The details of transgression of Indian airspace by unidentified aircraft along the border in the year 2014 and 2015 (up to 3.8.2015) is as follows:
Year
|
Total Number
|
2014
|
18
|
2015
(upto 3.8.2015)
|
02
|
Strengthening of Air Defence mechanism including enhancing the capability to detect any intrusion in Indian airspace depends upon national security and operational requirement of the defence forces and is reviewed by the Government from time to time. This is a continuous process.
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Casualties of Defence Personnel
The year-wise number of defence personnel who lost their lives due to insurgency, terrorism and cross border firing from across the border are as under:-
Ser
No.
|
Year
|
No. of defence personnel martyred
|
(a)
|
2012
|
61
|
(b)
|
2013
|
54
|
(c)
|
2014
|
56
|
(d)
|
2015
(till 3rd August)
|
30
|
Total
|
201
| |
The occurrence of casualties suffered by Indian Army troops (both on the Line of Control and in hinterland) is contingent on the operation dynamics at the time and place of the Ceasefire violations, Border Action Team / Improvised Explosive Device, Terrorist initiated incident or any other type of operational contact.Out of the 201 cases as indicated in part (a), all payments have been made in 180 cases. In the remaining cases, partial payments have been made.
Requests for proposal for procurement of weapons and equipment are invited from time to time to meet the operational requirement of the Armed Forces. This is a continuous process.
Ministry of Defence has taken care to minimize systemic deficiencies of all nature to ensure timely and unhindered procurement of weapons and equipment.
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Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft
India signed the Inter-Government Agreement (IGA) with Russia for co-development and co-production of Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) in October 2007. The preliminary design stage of the FGFA programme has been completed in June 2013 based on a contract signed in December 2010 with the Russian side. The next stage of development of FGFA would commence upon signing of the Research & Development (R&D) contract.
The FGFA is planned to have State-of-the-Art technology including features such as advanced avionics, advanced software intensity etc.
The FGFA is planned to have State-of-the-Art technology including features such as advanced avionics, advanced software intensity etc.
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Defence Act
A committee consisting of representatives of various wings of the Ministry, the Services, OFB, DGDE and DRDO has been constituted to examine and suggest amendments to Works of Defence Act, 1903.
• The following steps have taken by the Government for modernizing Depots:
• Design and construction of Armament / ammunition Depots as per STEC regulations issued by Centre for Fire Explosive and Environmental Safety (CFEES) of DRDO.
• Army has chalked out a plan for modernization of 45 depots.
• Directions issued for the constitution of a Task Force of experts for preparation of “Ammunition Storage Policy” which would cover use of better and modern techniques.
• The following steps have taken by the Government for modernizing Depots:
• Design and construction of Armament / ammunition Depots as per STEC regulations issued by Centre for Fire Explosive and Environmental Safety (CFEES) of DRDO.
• Army has chalked out a plan for modernization of 45 depots.
• Directions issued for the constitution of a Task Force of experts for preparation of “Ammunition Storage Policy” which would cover use of better and modern techniques.
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Medium Transport Aircraft
A proposal to procure 56 transport aircraft as replacement for the ageing fleet of Avro aircraft through ‘Buy & Make’ route has been accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC). Out of these, 40 aircraft will be manufactured in India by an Indian Production Agency (IPA) from the private sector. Only one vendor has submitted techno-commercial bid in response to the RFP issued and DAC has also accorded approval to go ahead with the procurement process with the single bid received. The cost details are benchmarked and negotiated at contract negotiation stage.
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Special Uniform for Defence Personnel
Defence Materials and Stores Research & Development Establishment (DMSRDE), a Kanpur based laboratory of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed special protective clothing for soldiers deployed in Extreme Cold Weather and Glacier Regions, where temperature goes up to – 400 C. Also, various textiles based items have been developed for use to improve safety and operational efficiency of the personnel deployed at borders. The special protective items developed for Nuclear, Biological & Chemical (NBC) clothing include Suits, Gloves, Boots, Haversack, Casualty Bag Full & Half, and Decontamination Suit, which provide protection for 24 hours, mainly from chemical warfare agents.
A Blast Protection Suit has been developed for mine clearing operation. It provides comfort, mobility and maximum protection against the blast of APNM-M14 mines from a distance of 30 cm. The Boot Anti-mine Equipment provides safety to defence personnel from explosion of landmine.Many of the protective items developed by DRDO have been inducted into Services and productionised through Ordnance Factories.
A Blast Protection Suit has been developed for mine clearing operation. It provides comfort, mobility and maximum protection against the blast of APNM-M14 mines from a distance of 30 cm. The Boot Anti-mine Equipment provides safety to defence personnel from explosion of landmine.Many of the protective items developed by DRDO have been inducted into Services and productionised through Ordnance Factories.
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Stress Level of Defence Personnel
The government had ordered a study into stress levels encountered by young officers of the Army. Defence Institute of Psychological Research (DIPR), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) had undertaken a study on “Factors causing distress among Young Officers of Indian Army” with the objectives to:
· Study the level of distress prevailing among the young officers.
· Study the causal factor that create distress among young officers and deplete their resources to cope with it.
· Suggest remedial measures to manage stress among young officers.
The study was taken up in November 2012 and the final report along with executive summary of the study has been received by Government for implementation.
The measures taken include introduction of Yoga, Meditation, Regular Interaction by Seniors, Buddy system, Liberalized Leave Policy and Wide spread Dissemination of reading materials on management of stress in appropriate languages.
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Defence Production Law
Several representations have been received from Defence Employees Federations, Companies and other Individuals in this Ministry on the issue of raising FDI limit in the defence sector. There is no proposal at present to formulate any Defence Production Law in the defence sector. However, in order to address the issues related to national security arising as a result of acquisition and merger by foreign companies in the defence sector, necessary safeguards have been incorporated into conditions of Industrial Licenses and FDI Policy. Some of the major conditions in this regard are as follows :
• FDI upto 49% is allowed in the defence sector through Government route and above 49% through approval of Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on case-to-case basis, wherever it is likely to result in access to modern and state-of-the-art technology in the country.
• The management of the company/partnership firm owning the Industrial Licence should be in Indian hands with majority representation on the Board as well as the Chief Executive of the Company/partnership firm being Resident Indians. This condition is, however, not applicable to cases of foreign investment above 49%.
• Chief Security Officer (CSO) of the investee / joint venture company should be resident Indian citizen.
• Adequate safety and security procedures would need to be put in place by the licensee. The Indian Licensed Defence Companies (ILDCs) shall comply with the security guidelines applicable to them as per security instructions/architectures prescribed in “Security Manual for Licence Defence Industries” available at www.ddpmod.gov.in based on their categorization. Some of the important guidelines of the Security Manual includes external security audit of the ILDCs by Intelligence Agencies once in two years and cyber security audit by CERT-IN empanelled auditors once every year.
• The licensable defence items as mentioned in the license, produced by the private manufacturers will be primarily sold to the Ministry of Defence. These items may also be sold to other Government entities under the control of the Ministry of Home Affairs, State Governments, Public Sector Undertakings(PSUs) and other valid Defence Licensed Companies without prior approval of Department of Defence Production (DDP). However, for sale of the items to any other entity, the licensee shall take prior permission from DDP, Ministry of Defence.
• FDI upto 49% is allowed in the defence sector through Government route and above 49% through approval of Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on case-to-case basis, wherever it is likely to result in access to modern and state-of-the-art technology in the country.
• The management of the company/partnership firm owning the Industrial Licence should be in Indian hands with majority representation on the Board as well as the Chief Executive of the Company/partnership firm being Resident Indians. This condition is, however, not applicable to cases of foreign investment above 49%.
• Chief Security Officer (CSO) of the investee / joint venture company should be resident Indian citizen.
• Adequate safety and security procedures would need to be put in place by the licensee. The Indian Licensed Defence Companies (ILDCs) shall comply with the security guidelines applicable to them as per security instructions/architectures prescribed in “Security Manual for Licence Defence Industries” available at www.ddpmod.gov.in based on their categorization. Some of the important guidelines of the Security Manual includes external security audit of the ILDCs by Intelligence Agencies once in two years and cyber security audit by CERT-IN empanelled auditors once every year.
• The licensable defence items as mentioned in the license, produced by the private manufacturers will be primarily sold to the Ministry of Defence. These items may also be sold to other Government entities under the control of the Ministry of Home Affairs, State Governments, Public Sector Undertakings(PSUs) and other valid Defence Licensed Companies without prior approval of Department of Defence Production (DDP). However, for sale of the items to any other entity, the licensee shall take prior permission from DDP, Ministry of Defence.
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Purchase of Hawks Aircraft
A case for the procurement of 20 additional Hawk Mk-132 aircraft is at Contract Negotiation stage. Formation Aerobatics will be one of the tasks carried out by these aircraft.Simulator is an effective training tool only for certain elements of formation flying. But Simulator cannot be substituted for the actual aircraft for training.
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Pilotless Target Aircraft
Licensing Agreement for Transfer of Technology (LAToT) has been signed between Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), Bengaluru, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Laboratory and Larsen &Tubro (L&T) Ltd., Mumbai for upgraded digital version of Lakshya.
This is agreement for non-exclusive production and supply to Indian Armed Forces. However, as per serial No. 7.2 of LAToT with L&T, “For enquiries received from abroad for the product, L&T shall seek prior approval of DRDO in writing indicating the country to which such export is sought. The grant of license for export of product shall be subject to Government approvals and there may be additional licensing fees and royalty rates applicable and shall be decided by DRDO on case to case basis.” So far, ADE has not received any such request from L&T. First delivery can be done within Eighteen months after the placement of orders from Users.
This is agreement for non-exclusive production and supply to Indian Armed Forces. However, as per serial No. 7.2 of LAToT with L&T, “For enquiries received from abroad for the product, L&T shall seek prior approval of DRDO in writing indicating the country to which such export is sought. The grant of license for export of product shall be subject to Government approvals and there may be additional licensing fees and royalty rates applicable and shall be decided by DRDO on case to case basis.” So far, ADE has not received any such request from L&T. First delivery can be done within Eighteen months after the placement of orders from Users.
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Inclusion of Yoga in Army Training Programme
Training in Yoga is already being imparted in the Indian Army as a part of overall physical training. An eight weeks yoga course is conducted thrice a year at the Army Institute of Physical Training, Pune. The trained personnel are further utilized at places wherever posted to train the troops in Yoga.
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Funds for Research and Development in Defence Sector
Details of funds allocated for defence research and development during the last three years and the current year are as follows:-
(` incrores)
Year
|
Budget Estimates
|
2012-13
|
10,635.56
|
2013-14
|
10,610.17
|
2014-15
|
15,282.92
|
2015-16
|
14,358.49
|
Allocation of funds in the future would depend on various factors including the overall state of the economy, requirement of other Services and agencies and availability of resources.
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