Page 226 - Leadership in the Indian Army

It was at his behest that the Tactical Communications Committee was
formed in 1964, with Raj as Chairman, to examine all requirements of
military communications for field formations. During his tenure, the

communication requirements of mountain divisions were finalised and the
signal units reorganised accordingly. In 1965, the committee studied the
special communications requirements for armoured and infantry divisions,
air defence, offensive air support and counter bombardment. As a result,
two important decisions were taken: switching from HF (high frequency) to
VHF (very high frequency), and introducing radio relay in divisions.
In addition, there were a large number of organisational changes that Raj

pushed through. When he took over as SO-in-C, his cousin, Brigadier M.N.
Batra had assumed the office of Director of Military Intelligence after
attending the first course at the National Defence College. The appointment
was later upgraded to Major General, and M.N. Batra continued to hold it
after promotion. As signal officers, both were convinced of the immense
potential of signals intelligence and the need to upgrade Indian capability in

this field. As a result of their deliberations, in 1963 Raj put forward a case
for the establishment of a Directorate of Signals Intelligence (DSI) to
function under the Director of Military Intelligence (DMI), which was
accepted. The new set-up was an interservices organisation which covered
intercept units of the army, navy and the air force. Its establishment paid
handsome dividends, as was amply demonstrated during the 1965 and 1971
wars with Pakistan, the operations in Sri Lanka, as well as the counter-

insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and the north-east.
Raj was also responsible for the raising of several new units, such as the
Special Signal Regiment which carries out trials of new equipment, air
support signal regiments, radio monitoring companies, and air defence
brigade signal companies. He also reorganised the Army HQ Signal
Regiment into two regiments, one in Delhi to man communications, and the

other in Meerut to look after the transmitters and receivers. The conversion
of command and area signal regiments from brick to tailor-made
establishments, and of corps signal regiments into brick-type
establishments, was also Raj’s brainchild.
It would be incorrect to assume that Raj always met with success in his
ventures. A number of his proposals did not materialise, mainly because of
opposition from other arms and services, or bureaucratic resistance to

change. One of the changes he proposed was for Signals to take over from