भारत सरकार GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

SCREEN READER ACCESS SKIP TO MAIN CONTENT LANGUAGE

रक्षा मंत्रालय
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

Menu

Home  about us

About the 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 five Departments viz.Department of Defence (DOD),
Department of Defence Production (DDP), Department of Defence Research & Development
(DDR&D) and Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare and also Finance Division

Historical
Historical Background
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.

Organisational
Organisational Set-Up
Set-Up And
And Functions
Functions
After independence Ministry of Defence was created under the charge of a Cabinet Minister, and,
each Service was placed under its own Commander-in-Chief. In 1955, the Commanders-in-Chief
were renamed as the Chief of the Army Staff, the Chief of the Naval Staff and the Chief of the Air
Staff. In November 1962, a Department of Defence Production was set up to deal with research,
development and production of defence equipment. In November 1965, the Department of
Defence Supplies was created for planning and execution of schemes for import substitution of
defence requirements. These two Departments were later merged to form the Department of
Defence Production and Supplies. ¬ In 2004, the name of Department of Defence Production and
Supplies was changed to Department of Defence Production. In the year 1980, the Department of
Defence Research and Development was created. While In 2004, the Department of Ex-
Servicemen Welfare was created. Another Department i.e. Department of Military Affairs was
created in December 2019. The Defence Secretary functions as head of the Department of
Defence and is additionally responsible for co-ordinating the activities of the five Departments in
the Ministry.

Departments
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:

1.
1. The
The Department
Department of
of Defence
Defence (DoD):
(DoD):

The Department of Defence is headed by Defence Secretary and is 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.
2. The
The Department
Department of
of Military
Military Affairs
Affairs (DMA):
(DMA):

The Department of Military Affairs (DMA) is headed by Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) as Secretary
and was created to facilitate optimal utilization of resources and promote jointness among the
three Services.

3.
3. The
The Department
Department of
of Defence
Defence Production
Production (DDP)
(DDP) ::

The Department of Defence Production is headed by a Secretary and deals with matters
pertaining to defence production, indigenisation of imported stores, equipment and spares,
planning and control of .departmental production units of the Defence Public Sector
Undertakings (DPSUs)

4.
4. The
The Department
Department of
of Defence
Defence Research
Research and
and Development
Development (DDR&D):
(DDR&D):

The Department of Defence Research and Development is headed by a Secretary and deals with
research and development of defence technologies, systems and equipments as required by the
three services of the Armed Forces.

5.
5. The
The Department
Department of
of Ex-Servicemen
Ex-Servicemen Welfare
Welfare (DESW):
(DESW):

The Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare is headed by a Secretary and deals with all
resettlement, welfare and pensionary matters of Ex-Servicemen.
:
 Feedback Website Policies FAQ Help Contact us Web Information Manager

Archive Terms & Conditions Visitors Analytics

Website Content Managed by Ministry

Ministry of
of Defence
Defence GOI;
GOI; Designed, Developed and Hosted by
National
National Informatics
Informatics Centre(
Centre( NIC
NIC )) Last Updated: 18-11-24
18-11-24
: