Importance of JCO (Junior Commissioned Officer) in Indian Army

Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) is a term used for a group of military ranks which is higher than havildar (non commissioned officer) and lower than lieutenant (commissioned officer). The term is only used by Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan.[1] Senior havildars are promoted to JCO rank on the basis of merit and seniority, restricted by the number of vacancies.[2] JCOs are treated as a separate class and hold additional privileges. Primarily the term was associated with armies but since the 2000s India and Pakistan's navies and air forces are using the term to indicate their Chief Petty Officers and Warrant Officers.

The British Indian Army recruited Gurkha soldiers from Nepal since the 19th century and separate Gurkha Regiments were created for them, the Gurkha soldiers got same ranks as other Indian soldiers; the modern Nepal Army officially made the Indian Army rank system for their soldiers in 1960s through a series of reorganizations and the 'JCO' term is being used by them from then.[3] After the secession of East Pakistan in 1971 the Bangladesh Army inherited the 'JCO' rank system from Pakistan Army though since early 2000s the army uses the Warrant Officer terms.

A Junior Commission is signed and awarded by the Havildar's commanding officer.[6] This type of commission is inferior to that held by full commissioned officers.
In the army, JCOs have a separate mess (the JCOs' mess), and are entitled to travel in AC 2 Tier on the railways and by air economy class (while on temporary duty or other movements). In the infantry, all JCO ranks have the word subedar in them, whereas the cavalry equivalent is risaldar.

The JCO ranks in the Indian Army and the Pakistan Army (from highest to lowest) are:

Subedar Major/Risaldar Major
Subedar/Risaldar
Naib Subedar/Naib Risaldar
JCOs holding the rank of Naib Subedar or Subedar often serve as platoon commanders in an infantry company in place of lieutenants, with a major as the company commander and a captain as second-in-command. JCOs holding the rank of Subedar Major assist their battalion's commanding officer in the same way as a regimental sergeant major would, to the extent that the equivalent rank of regimental havildar major is now almost obsolete in the Indian Army.

In the Indian Army, due to their long years of service, officers accord JCOs great respect and JCOs have a great amount of influence, especially in cases involving the enlisted ranks, their welfare and morale. Another custom religiously followed is that a JCO is never addressed using just his name or rank. The word sahib (sir) is added as a suffix, e.g. a subedar named Pritam Singh would be addressed as either Subedar Sahib or Pritam Singh Sahib

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