On
December 31, 2019, General Bipin Rawat was appointed as the Chief of Defence
Staff. He recently retired as Chief of Army Staff and was succeeded by
General Manoj Mukund.
Recently,
the Union Cabinet approved the post of Chief of Defence Staff in the rank of
four star general. The salaries and perks of the CDS is equivalent to service
chief. The CDS will also head the Department of Military affairs which is to be
created with in the Ministry of Defence. He will act as the military advisor to
the Government of India. The post was created in order to bring in reforms in
military focusing on minimal use of resources with maximum output.
Chief of Defence Staff
The
other countries that hold Chief of Defence Staff in the
world includes Italy, France, China, Spain, UK, Canada and Japan. The history
of creation of such as post goes back to 1940s. The idea of creation of such a
post was mooted by Lord Mountbatten. However, officially the suggestion came in
after Kargil war in 1999.
The
Chief of Staff Committee was created to finalise the powers of CDS.
Four-star mark
The
four-star rank of an officer in India is given to 5 officers. It includes
Admiral of Indian Navy, Air Chief Marshal of Indian Air Force, General of
Indian Army and Director of Intelligence Bureau. Now, the rank is given to CDS
officer as well.
