Government has called the action of Army chief General V K Singh moving the Supreme Court for settlement of his age issue as an unfortunate development and not a healthy precedent. Describing the matter as sensitive, Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju said in New Delhi today the development is neither good for the Defence Ministry nor the armed forces. He was replying to a question on the sidelines of an NCC function in New Delhi on whether the government is planning to send the Army Chief on leave or if it is looking at the possibility of appointing a new chief.

Our correspondent reports, General Singh moved the Supreme Court on Monday challenging the government's rejection of his claim on his date of birth. The Defence Ministry had recently rejected his contention that he was born in 1951 and not in 1950. In its recent order, the Ministry has taken his date of birth as May 10, 1950, and not May 10, 1951, which the General has claimed as real as per his matriculation certificate.

Earlier, addressing NCC cadets, Raju said that by 2015 the NCC cadet strength will be enhanced to 15 Lakhs. At present, it stands at 13 lakh. The Minister also lauded the efforts of NCC for empowering the youth to become a better and responsible citizen. Our correspondent reports the NCC, the largest uniformed voluntary youth organisation in the world, plans to raise its cadets’ strength from 13 lakhs to 15 lakhs under a five-phase annual programme, with an additional 40,000 enrolment every year. In the first and second phases, out of a total of 24 NCC Units that are due to be raised by March this year, as many as eight Units will be exclusively for Girls. With this, the girl cadets will comprise 55 percent of the total strength.