ABOUT THE DEFENCE FORCES OF INDIA
Introduction
The Indian Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force. Additionally, the Indian Armed Forces are supported by the Indian Coast Guard and paramilitary organisations (Assam Rifles, and Special Frontier Force) and various inter-service commands and institutions such as the Strategic Forces Command, the Andaman and Nicobar Command and the Integrated Defence Staff.
The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces.
The Indian Armed Forces are under the management of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the Government of India.
Historical Background
A Military Department was created in the Supreme Government of the East India Company at Kolkata into the year 1776, having the main function to sift and record orders relating to the Army issued by various Departments of the Govt of East India Co. The Military Department initially functioned as a branch of the Public Department and maintained a list of Army personnel.
With the Charter Act of 1833, the Secretariat of the Government of East India Company was reorganised into four Departments, including a Military Department, each headed by a Secretary to the Government. The Army in the Presidencies of Bengal, Bombay & Madras functioned as respective Presidency Army till April 1895, when the Presidency Armies were unified into a single Indian Army. For administrative convenience, it was divided into four Commands viz. Punjab (including the North West Frontier), Bengal, Madras (including Burma) and Bombay (including Sind, Quetta and Aden).
The supreme authority over the Indian Army vested in the Governor General-in-Council, subject to the Control of the Crown, which was exercised by the Secretary of State for India. Two Members in the Council were responsible for military affairs, one of whom was the Military Member, who supervised all administrative and financial matters, while the other was the Commander-in-Chief who was responsible for all operational matters. The Military Department was abolished in March 1906 and it was replaced by two separate Departments, the Army Department and the Military Supply Department. In April 1909, the Military Supply Department was abolished and its functions were taken over by the Army Department. The Army Department was redesignated as the Defence Department in January, 1938. The Department of Defence became the Ministry of Defence under a Cabinet Minister in August, 1947.
Departments
The principal task of the Ministry is to frame policy directions on defence and security related matters and communicate them for implementation to the Services Headquarters, Inter-Service Organisations, Production Establishments and Research & Development Organisations. It is required to ensure effective implementation of the Government's policy directions and the execution of approved programmes within the allocated resources.
The principal functions of all the Departments are as follows: