Withering olive

 

 

Is India slowly, but irrevocably, headed towards conscription? If not, top Defence analysts, including serving Generals and others, say there has to be drastic changes in the salary structures to keep the youth interested in fighting for the country. Consider the following. In a service which is devoted to serving the nation, not many are keen to join. There is shortage of a staggering 25 per cent officers in the army and about 15 per cent officers in navy and air force. The defence forces need to recruit 2,100 officers every year. But, the armed forces are currently short of 14,362, roughly a quarter of the total strength of 67,540. Besides there is a shortage of about 25,000 persons below officer ranks (PBOR).

The situation is more acute than it appears. At least 10 per cent officers are on leave at any given time, leaving only 65 per cent. This is an untold story of India’s battle preparedness. Even advance command battalions are managing with depleted staff. For example, a frontline unit is forced to make do with only 14 officers while it needs 24. Few are willing to join the armed forces and still fewer manage to qualify their high qualitative requirements (QR). As a result, of the 300 seats in the National Defence Academy (NDA) course, 110 seats remained vacant last year. Of the 250 seats in Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, 165 seats or nearly 70 per cent seats could not be filled last year. Staggering figures for a country with a very hostile neighbour.

The situation is so serious that the Defence Ministry last month sought the advice of the three wings of military establishment whether they wanted a one-time waiver in QRs to fill in the backlog. The ministry received a big snub from the three services chiefs. The reasons are not difficult to find. Armed Forces have a poor pay structure as compared to most government services, not to talk of private jobs in multi-nationals and even Indian corporates. They lead a rigorous life, get posted far from home, and they have a lousy resettlement policy.

Most PBORs are retired between 30 to 40 years of age, and are left to fend for themselves. A large number of them end up as watchmen in colonies or companies. Most officers superannuate between 45 and 55, with little savings. Lack of skilled training, with the exceptions of pilots, prevents them from picking up good jobs in the private sector. “Due to steep, pyramid-like hierarchy, only three per cent officers joining the army can hope to become a Major General, whereas in civil services 90 per cent officers reach equivalent ranks,” Lt Gen Raj S Kadyan, former deputy chief of army staff told TSI.

In 1947, there were 2.5 lakh defence personnel. The number has now grown upto 12 lakhs but the hierarchy remains the same, limiting their promotional avenues. In comparison, top ranks in both the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) have proliferated exponentially. While the state police services used to be headed by an IG-rank officer till two decades ago, they now have Directors Generals literally in dozens. Similarly, the IAS has created posts of Special Secretary and Principal Secretary and increased the number of Secretaries and Joint Secretaries. The Sixth Pay Commission recommendations have further aggravated the anomalies. These translate into a take-home package – before tax – of Rs 25,760 for officers at the entry level of Lieutenants and equivalent and rising to a maximum of Rs 65,090 for the Lieutenant Generals and their equivalents. The three vice chiefs, army commanders and equivalents will get a salary of Rs 80,000 per month. In the case of PBORs, it has been recommended that at the entry level, sepoys should receive a minimum of Rs 7,860, rising to a maximum of Rs 40,600 for subedar majors. The commission has also recommended military service pay (MSP) of Rs 6,000 for officers up to the level of brigadier and Rs 1,000 for PBORs.

The army officers are upset as middle-rung defence personnel like Lt Colonel and Colonels have received a hike of only 15 per cent as against 40 per cent given to three star generals and POBRs, at par with civil government employees. Moreover, they will get the MSP from the date of acceptance of the award while civil officers will get salary arrears since January 2006. Major General and Lt Generals are sore as there are 150 serving Lt Generals in the Army alone besides a large number of equivalent ranks in Navy and Air Force whose income will stagnate at the upper limit, i.e. Rs 65,090.

Though the three service chiefs have formally submitted a memorandum to the Defence Minister and Finance Minister, the government is yet to take a decision. Discrepancies have sharpened the attrition rate, with about 150 officers having sent in applications for premature retirement since the report was submitted. Over 3,000 officers resigned during the past three years. “Our battle preparedness will take a huge beating if the trend continues, as the number of officers on forward positions would become almost half of the required strength,” a Lt General ranked officer told TSI. The solution lies in improving the salary structure – may be a separate Pay Commission for them, removing promotional bottlenecks (giving time-bound promotions) and imparting on job training to those seeking premature retirement so that they don’t have to take up lowly jobs.

Army chief, General Deepak Kapoor, has recently mooted the idea of a compulsory military stint to overcome the shortage of officers, but the idea was shot down for it could introduce indiscipline and lower quality standards in the army. Says an officer: “We not only need good jawans and army officers, but also good ideas on how to bring best talent in defence forces.”