Ministry of Defence

About Ministry

• The Government of India is responsible for ensuring the defence of India and every part thereof. The Supreme Command of the Armed Forces vests in the President. The responsibility for national defence rests with the Cabinet.
• This is discharged through the Ministry of Defence, which provides the policy framework and wherewithal to the Armed Forces to discharge their responsibilities in the context of the defence of the country. The Raksha Mantri (Defence Minister) is the head of the Ministry of Defence.
• The principal task of the Defence Ministry is to obtain policy directions of the Government on all defence and security related matters and communicate them for implementation to the Services Headquarters, Inter-Services Organisations, Production Establishments and Research and Development Organisations. It is also required to ensure effective implementation of the Government’s policy directions and the execution of approved programmes within the allocated resources.
• Ministry of Defence comprises of following Departments –
  • 1. The Department of Defence – The Department of Defence deals with the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) and three Services and various Inter-Service Organisations. It is also responsible for the Defence Budget, establishment matters, defence policy, matters relating to Parliament, defence co-operation with foreign countries and co-ordination of all defence related activities.
    2. The Department of Military Affairs – It is responsible for managing the armed forces of India, namely, the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. It is also responsible for the Territorial Army. It is headed by the Chief of Defence Staff as its secretary. It deals with procurement exclusive to the Indian Armed Forces except capital acquisitions. It is designed to promote jointness among the military services of India. This department was approved on 24 December 2019.
    3. The Department of Defence Production – It deals with matters pertaining to defence production, indigenisation of imported stores, equipment and spares, planning and control of departmental production units of the Ordnance Factory Board and Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) (HAL, BEL, BEML, BDL, MDL, GSL, GRSE, Midhani).
    4. The Department of Defence Research and Development – Its function is to advise the Government on scientific aspects of military equipment and logistics and the formulation of research, design and development plans for equipment required by the Services.
    5. The Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare –  It deals with all resettlement, welfare and pensionary matters of Ex-Servicemen. The Directorate General of Resettlement, the Kendriya Sainik Welfare Board and Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme come under the purview of DESW.

ONE RANK ONE PENSION SCHEME

Objectives

• • To provide uniform pension be paid to the Armed Forces personnel retiring in the same rank with the same length of service, regardless of their date of retirement.

Salient Features

• • Under the scheme the benefits will be provided w.e.f. 1st July 2014.
  • The arrears will be paid in four half-yearly instalments. However all widows, including war widows will be paid arrears in one instalment.
  • Pension will be re-fixed for all pensioners retiring in the same rank and with the same length of service as the average of minimum and maximum pension in 2013.
  • Personnel who voluntarily retire will not be covered under the OROP scheme.
  • In future, the pension would be re-fixed every 5 years.

Border Roads Organisation

• At present, Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is working on 883 roads of length 27,404.18 kilometres, out of which 352 roads of length 7,991.98 kilometres are under maintenance only and balance roads are under construction/improvement to double lane.
• BRO is also maintaining seven airfields besides snow clearance to ensure connectivity of border regions with rest of the country.
• Launching 200 ft Bailey bridge (Bailey bridge is a type of portable, pre-fabricated, truss bridge) at Gelensiniak (the first single span bridge over the River Subansiri).
• The Chardham Mahamarg Vikas Pariyojna is an ambitious initiative to improve connectivity to the Char Dham pilgrimage centres in the Himalayas (Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri in Uttarakhand). It is implemented by BRO in collaboration with the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways.

UdChalo Initiative

• • In a bid to make wounded soldiers, who are now confined to wheelchairs, self-reliant, an initiative ‘UdChalo’ is all set to take off at the Army’s Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre (PRC).
  • ‘UdChalo’ is a travel portal that caters for the personal travel of the military and paramilitary forces personnel by aggregating defence fares and getting exclusive discounts.
  • It aims to empower the disabled military veterans.
  • The initiative is unique and has given a new lease of life of these soldiers who are now confined to wheelchairs.

OTHER SCHEMES/INITIATIVES OF MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

To read and learn about Government Schemes and Programs related to other Ministries,  Click Here. (Notes on all Government Ministries Schemes and Programs)