Page 227 - Leadership in the Indian Army

the Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers the responsibility for
field repairs of signal equipment in field formations, in addition to static
establishments. Another proposal that he mooted was that field signal units

be rotated between formations, as was being done for the Armoured Corps
and Artillery. This would not only facilitate continuity of service of the
individuals in these units, but also the implementation of the ‘parent unit’
system that was being followed in several other arms. Unfortunately,
neither proposal was accepted.
One of the most important areas on which Raj concentrated was electronic
data processing systems. His tenure in the USA had convinced him of the

tremendous power of computers, and he decided that the Indian Army must
begin using them as soon as possible. A steering committee, with Raj as
Chairman, was appointed to go into the question of its feasibility. Captain
(later Major General) Bir Paintal, who had joined the team when he
returned from his course in the US, remembers that none of them ever
walked—they ran. There were frequent brainstorming sessions, and

everyone was encouraged to come up with new ideas, however bizarre or
absurd. The committee’s first report was approved by the Army Chief and
submitted to the government, which constituted another high-powered
committee to review it. Meanwhile, Raj convinced the Chief that they
should go ahead with the mechanisation of procedures in order to save time,
beginning with the Central Ordnance Depot in Delhi and the Signals
Records in Jabalpur.

As a result of the expansion of the army after the 1962 operations, there
was a spurt in the intake of officers as well as other ranks. To cater for the
increased training load, two additional centres for training of recruits were
established at Jabalpur and Goa. Raj realised that it would be impossible to
open another school for training officers or increase the size of the School
of Signals in the immediate future. He decided to run a number of short

courses to train officers on specific systems or equipment till the situation
stabilised. These courses, of four to six weeks duration, were run at the
School of Signals and focused on wireless equipment, line equipment, line
construction and radio relay. In addition, vacancies were obtained in the
USA and the UK to train officers in techniques and equipment that was
being imported in large quantities. Graduate engineers began to be inducted,
and a three-year engineering degree course was put in place for the others,

to ensure that every signal officer would be capable of handling the