General Vijay Kumar Singh steps down as Chief of the Army Staff on May 31, more than two years after he assumed office promising to look into the internal health of the Army, acting tough on issues of corruption and promising probity. His tenure, however, was an intense rollercoaster ride for everyone - he dragged the government to the Supreme Court over his date of birth in an unprecedented action by an Indian military chief; and his claim about a bribe being offered to him to clear the purchase of Tatra trucks resulted in a ruckus in parliament and a CBI investigation. Amid all these controversies, he also took decisive steps towards "decolonizing" the Army and transforming it into a modern fighting force. Just days ahead of his retirement, Gen VK Singh spoke to Josy Joseph:
It has been a very happening tenure as Army chief for you. First Adarsh and other issues, then the push for transformation, and then the age issue. How do you look back?
The tenure has certainly been a happening one just like, I suppose, it has been for other chiefs. My priority was the transformation that has progressed as envisaged. The Adarsh issue came up and we dealt with it by asking MOD to take the required action. The age issue was a manufactured controversy with a definite agenda, purpose and objective. Decisions were imposed with arbitrariness and the system was manipulated. Within the framework of options available to me, I fought the injustice ever since it came up in 2006. Like every citizen with fundamental rights, I fought for justice and though I feel the anguish, I have no regrets.
You set out promising to look at the internal health of the Army. Have you been able to improve anything significantly?
The very fact that we brought about the aspect of internal health helped. It allowed for introspection and set the debate amongst the rank and file. A large number of tangible and intangible things have happened. We ensured that greater probity and transparency was stressed and greater awareness to imbibe service ethos was brought in. What became clear to all was that we would not desist from taking appropriate action against anyone. At the same time we must understand that in one go you cannot bring about total change but the process has started and I am confident that things will look up.
Gen VK Singh in India ( Cick Here)
It has been a very happening tenure as Army chief for you. First Adarsh and other issues, then the push for transformation, and then the age issue. How do you look back?
The tenure has certainly been a happening one just like, I suppose, it has been for other chiefs. My priority was the transformation that has progressed as envisaged. The Adarsh issue came up and we dealt with it by asking MOD to take the required action. The age issue was a manufactured controversy with a definite agenda, purpose and objective. Decisions were imposed with arbitrariness and the system was manipulated. Within the framework of options available to me, I fought the injustice ever since it came up in 2006. Like every citizen with fundamental rights, I fought for justice and though I feel the anguish, I have no regrets.
You set out promising to look at the internal health of the Army. Have you been able to improve anything significantly?
The very fact that we brought about the aspect of internal health helped. It allowed for introspection and set the debate amongst the rank and file. A large number of tangible and intangible things have happened. We ensured that greater probity and transparency was stressed and greater awareness to imbibe service ethos was brought in. What became clear to all was that we would not desist from taking appropriate action against anyone. At the same time we must understand that in one go you cannot bring about total change but the process has started and I am confident that things will look up.
Gen VK Singh in India ( Cick Here)
Exp:55%
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