Conscription need not be the solution

Conscription need not be the solution
by Harwant Singh

For a long time there has been a deficiency of eleven to twelve thousand officers in the Indian army. In a country plagued by endemic unemployment, such large deficiencies can only be explained in terms of the unattractiveness of military service in India. Since independence, the politico-bureaucratic combine have been working over time to render military service worthless and consequently it has become the very last option for the youth.

Both in terms of pay and status, the military has been brought down, in a sustained and systematic manner, and it has now hit rock bottom. On its part, the military has been pleading, both with the government and successive pay commissions, for a fair dispensation for the troops and officers in the defence forces, but to no avail.

In a desperate attempt the military tried to avail the services of an advertising agency, at a huge cost, to show case a career in the military, but this too seems to have drawn a blank. The fact is that no advertising agency can whitewash the obvious drawbacks of a career in the Indian military. Because no informed and discerning person can possibly miss the unenviable position in which the military has been placed. 

Therefore, as a last option, the army chief has fielded the idea of conscription to meet the shortfall. His concern is on two counts. One, endemic shortage in the officer cadre and second, those already in it want to troop out in large numbers. He could not have gone public on the issue without coming to the conclusion, after meeting failure on all fronts (government and successive pay commissions ) that there will continue to be lack of volunteers and that the only option left is conscription.
Considering constraints of training facilities, not more than two thousand per year would be conscripted, which for India is not even a drop in the ocean. However in a liberal democracy, the very idea of conscription does not appeal. Yet national security is not something that can be outsourced!

It is essential to know as to why suitable young men are not willing to join the military and those already in it want to leave in large numbers. There are far too many disadvantages, such as poor promotion prospects, inadequate pay and allowances, early retirement, long periods in non family stations in remote and uncongenial environments with attendant medical problems, running two establishments, disturbance in children’s education, risk to life in an unending fight against insurgents and all the other travails, attendant to life in the Indian military. All these can be clubbed under what may be called the ‘ X’ factor, which has to be duly compensated. Even glamour has gone out of military service.

Consider this. Only at the threat of resignation, were the service chiefs able to get, ‘running pay band’ for their officers as a compensation for extremely limited promotion avenues and early retirement etc, from the Fourth Pay Commission. The same with rank pay, in addition to basic pay, upto the rank of brigadier. Through a sleight of hand the rank pay was deducted from the basic pay, bringing these officers back to square one. The Fifth Pay Commission went the whole hog to further disadvantage the services.

This then is how the defence forces of the country have been dealt with by successive Pay Commissions with the tacit support from the government. No wonder the shortages, lower standards of intake not withstanding, persist. There is near exodus from the army and the IAF. Therefore, the question, who will soldier for the country!

During our meeting with the PM at Punjab Raj Bhavan, when I pointed out to him that inspite of promises from the President down to the defence minister for grant of ‘one rank one pension,’ only the other ranks upto havaldars have been given some monetary increase in their pension whereas JCOs and officers have been left out.

He was completely surprised. Since then JCOs have been given increase in their pension but officers have been again left in the cold; their case to be dealt by the Sixth Pay Commission. There is no defence services officer on the Sixth Pay Commission nor any one on the staff for the preparation of the report. 

There have been serious problems in the management of the officer cadre, be cause of its pyramidal structure, which is a service imperative. But any further tampering with it, by increasing numbers in the higher ranks, will be detrimental to the service. There is a strong case to enlarge the short service cadre and on completion of 5 years service there should be assured induction into state and central police, civil services and or professional training institutions, depending on qualifications, choice and suitability. There should be a statutory provision to this end. Such a course would be more in keeping with democratic values rather than conscription and at the same time resolve the perennial problem of cadre management and shortages. 

The rank and file in the military is equally if not more disadvantaged than the officer cadre. There are no shortages because of unemployment in the country. Even here the better material goes to state police, CPOs and other government avenues and only the left over seeks entry into military.
A soldier retires at the age of 34 to 38 years. There is no alternate job for him. His pension, because of lesser length of service and 33 years conditionality works out to less than half of that of a peon from the government. He is the same soldier to whom the PM gave the award of ‘Indian of the year’ at the NDTV award ceremony, only a few days earlier!

Responding to the army chiefs loud thinking on the issue of conscription, the defence minister stressed the need to create more facilities and better pay packets to make a job in the defence services more attractive rather than resort to conscription. Such false promises have been made by the politicians in the past as well. Perhaps Mr Antony is of a different genre.


http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080128/edit.htm#7