Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS)

Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS)

Subject – Security and Defence

Context – Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, his wife MadhulikaRawat, an Army Brigadier, and 10 others were killed when an Indian Air Force helicopter carrying them crashed into a heavily wooded area of the Coonoor ghat in the Nilgiris in western Tamil Nadu

Concept –

• CDS acts as the permanent Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee which will also have three service chiefs as members.
• His core function will be to foster greater operational synergy between the three service branches of the Indian military and keep inter-service frictions to a minimum.
• He will also head the newly created Department of Military Affairs (DoMA) in the Ministry of Defence.
• The CDS will be the single-point military adviser to the Defence Minister on matters involving all three services and the service chiefs will be obliged to confine their counsel to issues pertaining to their respective services.
• As the head of DoMA, CDS is vested with the authority in prioritising inter-service procurement decisions as Permanent Chairman-Chiefs of Staff Committee.
• The CDS is also vested with the authority to provide directives to the three chiefs.
• However, he does not enjoy any command authority over any of the forces.
• CDS is first among equals, he enjoys the rank of Secretary within the DoD and his powers will be confined to only the revenue budget.
• He will also perform an advisory role in the Nuclear Command Authority (NCA).
• The CDS is a four-star officer selected from among the serving officers of the Indian Armed Forces.
• He will be the single-point military adviser to the government as suggested by the Kargil Review Committee in 1999.
• He is also the Principal Adviser to the Defence Minister.
• The broad mandate of the CDS includes bringing about “jointness” in “operations, logistics, transport, training, support services, communications, repairs and maintenance of the three Services, within three years of the first CDS assuming office”.

Conditions:

• Not eligible to hold any Government office after demitting the office of CDS.
• No private employment without prior approval for a period of five years after demitting the office of CDS.
• The age limit for the CDS’s post is 65 years with no fixed tenure defined.