Nirmala Sitharaman to hold daily meetings with service chiefs

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will hold meetings with the three service chiefs every morning to ensure quick decision making in areas of strategic importance.

It had also been decided that the Defence Acquisition Council, the highest decision-making body on defence procurements, would meet on a fortnightly basis to ensure a time-bound clearance of proposals on the military acquisition, the defence ministry said.

Sitharaman would also have a separate meeting with the defence secretary every day, it added.

"A whole range of meetings has been scheduled with the three defence service chiefs to review defence preparedness and allied issues of strategic interests.

"Daily morning meetings with the three service chiefs and a separate daily meeting with the defence secretary have been formatted as a new practice for quick decision making," the ministry said in a statement.

Sitharaman, during meetings with senior officials of the ministry today, gave clear directions on critical issues while emphasising the need to step up the pace of acquisition proposals.

Other areas of focus would be settling all outstanding land-related issues for infrastructure projects and matters relating to the welfare of defence personnel and their families, the ministry said.

Sitharaman has been holding a series of meetings with top officials of the various wings of the defence ministry since taking charge as defence minister on September 7.

She has listed military preparedness, defence indigenisation, resolving long-pending issues and welfare of soldiers as the priority areas.