SOURCE: (a)
Tour of Duty: Don’t Blunt our Winning Edge
Maj Gen G G DWIVEDI (Retd)
The 'Tour of Duty' scheme was conceived in 2020 under the aegis of ‘Department of Military Affairs’ headed by then CDS General Bipin Rawat
Every year, around 60,000 defence personnel retire from the service. The ToD recruitment scheme was conceived in 2020 under the aegis of ‘The Department of Military Affairs’ headed by then CDS General Bipin Rawat. The underlying rationale for this proposition was to reduce the mounting defence pension bill, estimated to be over a third (including MOD civilians who are 28 per cent and share a whopping 42 per cent of the Pension budget ) of the defence budget. Given the crucial imperatives, the ToD proposal suffers from serious pitfalls as it overlooks critical ground realities.
The Regimentation
India’s rural hinterland continues to be the major source for Army recruitment. The main reason for this is that defence forces are seen as a symbol of pride, synonymous with high social status amongst the communities in the countryside. For many young people, joining the Army remains a preferred choice, evident from the series of protests by the aspirants against non-recruitment in the last two years. Further, since recruitment to the armed forces is purely merit-based, the fairness of the selection system enjoys a high degree of credibility. It is not uncommon to come across third or even fourth-generation recruits joining the regiments of their forefathers.
The structural foundation, the edifice of the Indian Army, rests on the units whose organizational culture is defined by camaraderie and ‘esprit de corps’ based on mutual faith and trust. While technical skills like handling of weapons and equipment or tactical drills can be developed in a shorter time frame, it takes a long to build team cohesion; starting with the buddy system, graduating to small detachment, section, platoon and company. Given the diverse backgrounds of the new joiners, moulding a raw recruit into a seasoned soldier is a painstaking transformational process. It entails individual nurturing, mentoring, building self-esteem, inculcating the ethos of a regiment, and imbibing a deep sense of conviction. It takes years to mould a battle-worthy soldier who will ultimately take the call to make the supreme sacrifice.
It is because of this institutionalised and time-tested system that an Indian soldier has stood the ground against the heaviest odds, despite being inadequately equipped and fighting with whatever is available.
Even during the 1962 War, in the Battles of Razangla- Gurung Hill or Walong, our men fought to the finish. In the 1965 War and later in the 1971 Bangladesh War, a spectacular victory against Pakistan was achieved despite the fact that most of the weapon systems were of WW II vintage. Even today, Indian armed forces continue to deliver amidst the most arduous conditions.
Security Challenges
India’s security challenges are very complex, posing a serious threat to its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The two-front threat is a stark reality with the Pakistan-orchestrated proxy war in J&K and China’s aggressive posturing along the LAC. The US and the West, where the ToD model is in vogue, have peaceful neighbourhoods with settled borders. Their security commitments are more about protecting national interests against weak opponents. In such scenarios ‘tourist soldiering’ makes sense. Incidentally, US’s humiliating defeats in Vietnam and Afghanistan were significantly due to card punching syndrome and the poor performance of seasonal soldiers. In the case of Israel too, where compulsory military service is the norm, the prevailing security threat is primarily by way of terrorism. Currently, in Ukraine, the performance of undertrained Russian conscripts is rather dismal. Even the Chinese military’s part-time soldiers have been found wanting to cope with the operational environment in Ladakh, despite being equipped with state-of-the-art weapons and equipment.
Regarding the financial aspects of the pension bill, it is pertinent to note that the approximate strength of the armed forces is around 15 lakh and that of civilians in the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is 3.75 lakh. Total number of defence pensioners is about 24.62 lakh; armed forces veterans numbering 19 lakh and civilians 5.62 lakh. In the current financial year, the defence budget was Rs 525,166 crore, of which defence personnel pension outlay was Rs 2,07,132 crore; i.e. around 39.4 per cent. Going further into the breakdown of the defence pension, the defence personnel account for Rs 1,19,696 crore and civilians Rs 87,436 crore. It is evident that the proportionate share of defence civilian pension is far higher than that of defence personnel.
Evaluate Alternatives
Given the above imperatives, the ToD scheme is flawed and merits a holistic review. The tendency to replicate the corporate model which devolves on the culture of ‘hire and fire’ or ‘use and throw’ defies the fundamental tenets of the armed forces and impinges on the solemn code of ‘Honour, Loyalty, Identity. Interestingly, in the corporate world, there has been a serious rethink on the organizational culture and man management in the wake of Covid-19. Entities which treated human resources as expendable commodities faced an existential crisis. The Western template is not relevant in our environment given the ground imperatives. A detailed ‘cost-benefit’ analysis of the ToD scheme reveals that drawbacks far outweigh the envisaged payoffs.
There are a number of alternatives which can ease the burden of mounting defence pension burden. To start with, MOD, the apex body, needs immediate restructuring and trimming down the civilian workforce to enable proficient prosecution of ‘higher direction war’. Similar actions are due in the case of other government bodies like the DRDO. Within the services too, organizational changes by way of operational jointness, integration in training and logistics coupled with ‘Atamnirbhar’ initiatives will result in major cost-cutting. Lateral placement of service personnel especially from the combat arms to the CAPFs is a of viable option and must be pursued despite resistance from the parent organizations. Some earlier policies like volunteer exit after seven to ten years service as reservists may be reimagined.
Veterans are the face of the armed forces in society.
To quote US first President George Washington;
“The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars treated and appreciated by their nation”.
An ‘Agniveer’ left to fend for self after four years of service may not be an ideal role model for the youth of the nation.
General George S Patton had famously said: “Wars are fought with weapons but won by the men. It is the spirit of men who follow and the man who leads that gain victory”.
The Indian Army has fought all the war against adversaries who were better armed, yet won because of the soldier behind the weapon. The situation is unlikely to change in the near future; in fact, the gap is likely to widen vis-à-vis China. So let’s be wary of not blunting our winning edge!
(The writer is a war veteran who commanded a battalion in Siachen-Chushul, formations in the Valley and North East; he is currently Professor, Strategic-IR and Management Studies)
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