INDIA: Army chief hints at conscription
Updated
India's military, the fourth largest force in the world, is facing a shortage of officers in the wake of India's booming private sector which is competing for the nation's best talent. Military analysts fear that the problem could seriously degrade the armed forces' effectiveness in the event of armed conflicts. And to address the shortage crisis, India's Army Chief, General Deepak Kapoor, has hinted at possible conscription.
Presenter: Girish Sawlani.
Speakers: Dr. Ajai Sahni, executive director, Institute for Conflict Management; Lt. General (ret'd) Satish Nambiar, director, United Service Institution of India
SFX PROMO : That incredible. Final moment of metamorphosis, leading up to the final step as the boy graduates into a man. It's the end of a cadet's tenure at the academy. But it is also the beginning of a long road ahead.
SAWLANI: Of the thousands of Indian stduents who graduate from high school and university, fewer are choosing the long hard road of the military. In the wake of attractive salaries offered by an ever increasing number of vocal and multi-national corporations. The number of cadets entering the various military academies are decreasing sharply.
Last year, only 190 students signed up with the prestigious National Defence Academy, which allocated a total of 300 places. Moreover, official figures state the army is facing a shortage of more than 11,000 officers, a shortfall of about 25 per cent.
But what are the consequences for one of the world's largest military forces. Dr Ajai Sahni is the executive director of the Institute for Conflict Management.
SAHNI: It is a very severe crisis. It impacts directly on the operational capabilities of the force, because it is leadership which defines the force. You can't just have large numbers of troops without a well trained, well qualified leadership. It is at the leadership levels that there is both on the one hand an absolute shortage of officers and also a consistent decline in the quality of available officers.
SAWLANI: But not everyone agrees that the shortage of officers will affect the operational capabilities of the Indian armed forces.
Satish Nambiar, is a retired returning general from the Indian infantry and is director of the United Service Institution of India.
NAMBIAR: There is some impact in terms of the capabilities, but it is not so serious as to have an impact on the capacity of the military capability of the force, because we have a certain resilience provided by the system in terms of its capacity to absorb these shortages, because we have warrant officer levels or something called junior commissioned officers at all levels, in all battalions and regiments, who are able to carry out the functions that are required.
So in so far as the military capability is concerned, it's not something which is worrisome at the moment.
SAWLANI: He says there are solutions to the shortage, but blames the government for refusing to take initiative.
NAMBIAR: There are any number of ways. It's just that so far the political establishment, the people who run the country haven't had the guts to take the decisions that are required to set this right. Because the basic problem that needs addressing is in terms of encouraging the entry of youngsters when they are just getting through university or into the armed forces into a short service commission. We can't have an armed forces completely of regular cadres who carry till they afford to fall on their death bed or something like that. We have to have officers coming in and then leaving at a certain period of time, so that the pyramidic structure of the armed forces can be effectively maintained.
SAWLANI: While many blame the shortage of officers on lucrative employment opportunities in the private sector, Dr Ajai Sahni cites increased stress levels associated with military occupations as another factor.
SAHNI: It's becoming more and more a stress kind of occupation. because earlier on you were looking at may be one or two significant wars in your entire career.
Now you have significant deployment of the army and internal security operations, particularly in India's north east and in Jammu and Kashmir, which keep men and officers in situations of extreme stress and in conflict zones over extended periods of their career. That stress is also in some measure driving out and you have a full factor due to the perks available in the private sector.
SAWLANI: As a possible measure to curb the officer shortage crisis, India's army chief General Deepak Kapoor suggested conscription. But retired Lieutenant General Satish Nambiar does not consider compulsory national service as a solution.
NAMBIAR: No, I don't think military conscription is the answer for the problems that we face. There's no dearth of material to join in the rank and file, so conscription has no meaning there. When you've got enough volunteers. In fact our problem is to be selective enough there. For every 100 vacancies, there are about 100,000 guys who come and volunteer in the rank and file, for their entry there. The problem is at officer level and then therefore you can't have the sort of selective military corp.
SAWLANI: Dr Ajai Sahni adds the very idea of conscription will not go down well with the Indian public.
SAHNI: There will be tremendous resistance in the Indian public, because we don't have a culture where you can force people to do anything.
Moreover, conscripted armies, unless there is a very strong tradition within the country for such armies, tend to be inferior in terms of discipline and
