Vice Chief of the Army Staff (India)
Indian army position
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ToursExplore Lably’s 3D toursThe current VCOAS is Lieutenant General Sandeep Jain who assumed the office on 1 July 2026.
History
Following India's independence and the partition of the British Indian Army on 15 August 1947, the Indian Army underwent rapid reorganization to establish sovereign command structures. The hierarchy featured a Commander-in-Chief at the apex, assisted by the Chief of General Staff (CGS) as the principal staff officer responsible for operational planning and administration.
The CGS remained the number two officer in the Indian Army below the Commander-in-Chief, India and later the Chief of Army Staff. In January 1959, the post of Deputy Chief of the Army Staff (DCOAS) was created to replace the CGS at the Army HQ. The DCOAS became the second-in-command and was equivalent to an Army Commander (GOC-in-C).
On 15 January 1965, the CGS designation was redesignated as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff (VCOAS), with the DCOAS becoming a PSO appointment. On 15 January 1965, Lieutenant General Paramasiva Prabhakar Kumaramangalam took over as the first Vice Chief of the Army Staff.
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Order of Precedence
The VCOAS ranks at No. 23 on the Indian order of precedence, along with the Vice Chiefs of Staff of the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force and the Army Commanders (GOC-in-C), Naval Commanders (FOC-in-C) and Air Commanders (AOC-in-C).
The VCOAS is at the Apex Pay grade (Grade 17), with a monthly pay of ₹225,000 (US$3,200).
Appointment
The Vice Chief of Army staff is appointed by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, from among the senior general officers of the Army. Since the appointment is of Commander-in-Chief grade, the appointees are usually one of the Army Commanders of the seven commands.
Unlike the Chief of Army Staff, there is no fixed term nor term limit to the position of the VCOAS, although most of those appointed to the office have typically served for two or three year tenures and serve until the age of 60.
Appointees
The following table chronicles the appointees to the office of the Vice Chief of the Army Staff.