ABOUT THE BOOK
fjrigjwwe9r0pp_Books:Description
It is axiomatic that
in a democracy, the nation’s Armed Forces are subordinate to its elected
Government. But a Nation’s Armed Forces are ‘Forces’ that exude and represent
national power and areno ordinary subordinate agencies. Besides, they are
unique organizations with long and proud traditions.
Control of the armed
Forces is hence an arduously complex and delicate function requiring
comprehensive and more importantly, a mature understanding of the Forces; ethos
and internal mechanisms of operation.
No universally
accepted templates exist for how this control must be exercised and each nation
evolves a model best suited to its own polity, geography and geo-strategic
environment. A cardinal dimension underlying the entire control regime remains
the capacity of its economy to allocate fiscal resources towards ensuring its
security.
The primary structures of control of India’s Armed Forces evolved under
the British Rule. The course of evolution of these structures from the days of
the East India Company and the Raj, their adaptation to conform to the
requirements of a democracy, post-independence developments and the course this
process needs to take to meet future requirements are some of the fascinating
aspects of an absorbing subject this book attempts to explore.
ABOUT Author
fjrigjwwe9r0pp_Books:aboutAuthor
R. Chandrashekhar, former member of the Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service
(1978-2013) held a string of select appointments that included extended tenures
in the chief of Army Staff’s secretariat. He has been Deputy Director General
(Vigilance), and Deputy Military Secretary (X) prior to his elevation as
Additional Director General.
A repository of knowledge on policies and
procedures, and rules and systems of the Ministry of Defence, the author gives
insights into the dynamics of functioning at the Ministry of Defence, obtained
first-handfrom a vantage ring-side view
point over several years.
Shri Chandrashekhar attended Pune’s elite
Fergusson College, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics and the
Executive Course at the Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies, Honolulu,
Hawaii. He is presently Senior Fellow at the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies,
New Delhi.