Draft:Indian Naval Material Management Service

Brief and History

The Indian Naval Material Management Service (INMMS) is one of the organized Group 'A' Central Engineering Service under the Ministry of Defence. The officers of this cadre are responsible for overseeing material management within the Indian Navy. The Cadre consists of officers selected from Engineering Service Exam with background of Electrical Engg, Mechanical Engg and Electronics Engg. The recruitment of this service is through Engineering Service Exam from 2002 and all appointments to the Group 'A' services are made by the president of India.

They are primarily responsible for defence logistics and supply chain management of the Indian Navy. This demands expertise in Planning, Procurement, Warehousing, Inventory control/ management, Import/ Export along with multitude activities involving in Administrative and Human Resources activities of the other civilian staff employed in Material Organisations/ Naval Store Depots / Weapon Equipment Depots/ DGNP/ Naval Dockyards / Ship Building Centers and Naval Headquarters across various locations in INDIA.

The origins of the store cadre can be traced back to the pre-independence era where officers were recruited from Federal Public Service Commission and Deputy Naval Store Officers to The Royal Indian Navy (RIN) for handling various stores and logistics functions at Mumbai and Headquarters Further, A Naval Store Office was located at Mumbai to provide the logistics support to Ships and unit was headed by Civilian Officer . Post Independence these depots were later renamed as Naval Store Depots and with addition of procurement functions, they were upgraded to Material Organisations.

Recruitment

There are two modes of recruitment to INMMS Group 'A':

• 67 % through direct recruitment through the annual Engineering Services Examination conducted by UPSC.
• 33 % through promotion from Group 'B' officers of Store House Cadre of Indian Navy.

Current cadre strength of INMMS officers is around 175 serving in 04 Theatre Commands across INDIA under various Logistics Organizations and Naval Head Quarters, Delhi.

Indian Naval Material Management Services

Service Overview
Abbreviation	INMMS
Founded	Erstwhile part of Royal Indian Navy (RIN), post-independence renamed as Naval Store Officer Cadre Approved as Organised Cadre by Government of India on 22 June 2017.
Country	India
Training Institute	INS Hamala
Cadre controlling authority	Ministry of Defence, Government of India
Minister responsible	Rajnath Singh, Minister of Defence
Cadre strength	about 175 Members
Selection	Engineering Services Examination

Training

After selection, the INMMS probationers report to their allocated locations and thereafter sent to training to INS HAMALA for induction course to INDIAN NAVY. Post completion of this they foundational course is done at Material Organisation (Mumbai) for a period of 12 Weeks in basics facets of Supply Chain and Inventory Management including the Integrated logistics Management Software there after the officer's given exposure to specialized facets of Import and Export, Victualling, Fuelling, Air Stores Management and Budget Management at various locations across INDIA along with attachment to The Parliament of INDIA and official visit and call on with The President of INDIA.The training gives the probationary officers a wide-ranging exposure to officer trainees which would be useful in their career as Inventory Managers. Some of the external institutions which are included apart for the In-House training are as follows.

• RINL
• Special Economic Zone, Kochi
• IOCL Facilities
• National Institute of Finance Management, Faridabad

Structure and Composition.

The INMMS consists of officers appointed through direct recruitment via the Engineering Services Examination (ESE) conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). The officers are recruited as Junior Time Scale (Level -10) as Asst Naval Store Officer Gr-I and there after the career progression across the service is through the following levels.

Post	Pay Level
Asst Naval Store Officer Gr-I	Junior Time Scale - Level 10
Naval Store Officer	Senior Time Scale -Level 11
Senior Naval Store Officer	Junior Administrative Grade (Non-Functional Selection Grade)- Level 12
Director	Junior Administrative Grade- Level 13
Senior Director Stores	Senior Administrative Grade -Level 14

History.

The Origins of this Cadre dates back to the Pre-Independence Era wherein the Civilian Officers were appointed at Naval Store Office and Naval Head Quarters at Mumbai (then Bombay) {a reference of the same is available in the Extracts of World War-II History of Royal Indian Navy}.  As the time passed the officers for these depots were drawn through the Federal Public Service Commission equivalent to present day Civil Services {Extracts of the file noting for appointment of DNSO}.  The officers were recruited for the post of the Deputy Naval Store Officer {Class-I} to lead the Naval Store Depots across INDIA for all the three services of the British defence forces. They were under the Director of Naval Stores, Naval Head Quarters, New Delhi.

             Thereafter after Independence this Cadre continued to Man the Naval Store Office which were rechristened as Naval Store Depots. Further, as the time passed these depots were empowered with the procurement arm and upgraded to Material Organisations. During the course the cadre continued to draw officers through special notifications which continued till 2001.

              With evolving nature of logistics from mere science to a technologically driven area of expertise the Cadre started to draw officers from the Engineering Services Exam from 2002 {equivalent to Civil Services in Jobs related to technology}. In order to attract the best talent across the country and to meet the aspirations of the INDIAN NAVY of its ever-growing status of guarding the Nation to Deployment across the world and IOR region the GOI has upgraded the NSO Cadre to an Organised Cadre named as INMMS (Indian Naval Material Management Services) in Jun 2017.

Postings. The logistics of Indian Navy is spread across various commands in the sub-continent at various locations the major locations of posting of the cadre is as depicted.

Posting Locations across INDIA

Major Locations of Postings

Recruitment and Career Progression.

• Officers are selected via the UPSC Engineering Services Examination or through promotion based on minimum qualifying service.
• Seniority is determined according to existing service structures and qualifying experience.
• The Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) oversees selection for higher ranks, ensuring non-functional upgradation (NFU) when required.

Service Conditions and Probation.

• Officers undergo a two-year probation period before confirmation in their roles.
• They are liable to serve anywhere in India or abroad, including potential commissioning in the Armed Forces for up to four years.
• Reservation policies apply in accordance with government guidelines for SC/ST/OBC/EWS and Persons with Disabilities (PwD).

Role and Responsibilities.

INMMS officers play a crucial role in material procurement, logistics, supply chain management, and inventory control for the Indian Navy, ensuring operational readiness through efficient resource allocation. The IN utilizes ILMS (Integrated Logistics Management System) for efficient and effective Inventory Management. The officers are vertically specialized in Inventory management and various facets of the management along the with Life Cycle Mangement of Inventory for various equipment's fitted on Ships and Units across Navy.

External links

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Categories:

• Indian Navy
• Logistics