Indian Army considering proposal to allow civilians to join force for 3-year tenure

In a transformational move, the Indian Army is considering a proposal to allow civilians which includes young working professionals to enlist in force for a three year term as officers and in other ranks such as front-line fighters and logistics.

Army is also considering to bring in personnel from paramilitary and central armed police forces for a brief period of up till 7 years after which they would be allowed to go back to their respective outfit.

The ‘game changing’ plan to let civilians to work for three years is being looked into by top commanders and its prime objective is to bring people close to the force by providing them a chance to experience army life.

"If approved it will be a voluntary engagement and there will be no dilution in selection criteria. Initially, 100 officers and 1,000 men are being considered for recruitment as part of test-bedding of the project," Spokesperson of the Army Col Aman Anand said.

According to the sources every details of the proposal are being looked into, adding fitness level and age will be some of the main factor for recruitmentunder under the Three Years Short Service scheme.

There is a "resurgence of nationalism and patriotism" in the nation and the scheme aims to tap the feelings of the younger generation who don’t want to join the Army as a profession but desire to live the Army life for a short time.

The scheme which is part of board reforms, is set to be talked about at a conference of top officials of the Indian Army after which the process would be taken forward, the plan will also boost the Army financially.

Currently, the Army enlists youngster under short service commission for an initial term of ten years which can be extended up to 14 years.

As per the proposal, the people to be recruited under the ToD will be eligible to be deployed as combatants in main forward locations and there will be no restrictions in their roles.

The sources citing an internal study stated that the Army would get important financial gain from the scheme as it will as it will spare a huge sum of money on gratuity, severance packages, leave encashment, and pension.

Young working professionals would be allowed to put in an application under ToD, they said.

The Army has also made a comparative analysis on if the training costs on people to be recruited under ToD will be equal with their subsequent limited employment for only three years.

The first approximate financial calculations show that the financial gains collected would be exponential.

According to sources the collected approximate cost of pre-commission training, salary and other expenses is about Rs 5.12 crore and Rs 6.83 crore on an officer if he or she is let go after 10 and 14 years respectively.

However, similar cost for those allowed to leave after three years would be only Rs 80 lakh to Rs 85 lakh each.

Since approximately 50% to 60% of the Short Service Commissioned Officers are given permanent commission, the cost of their retention till attaining 54 years of age is too high.

In similar fashion money saved on cost sustained by the government for a sepoy with 17 years of service as compared with a ToD sepoy with three years of service for a 17-year period would be huge.

The savings for only 1,000 jawans could be Rs 11,000 crore which could then be used for the much-needed upgradation of the Indian Army, the sources said.

They said a spell in the Army would also be helpful for young people in getting jobs in corporate as well as government sector.

An officer or soldier after going through one year of training and three years of ToD is likely to show noticeable growth in self-confidence, teamwork, responsibility, initiative, stress management, innovation and social skills, a military officer said.

"Initial survey tells that all corporates would favour an individual who has been trained by military and comes to them at 26/27 years of age rather than a raw college graduates at 22/23 years of age," he said.

The initiative to take in personnel from paramilitary forces and central armed police forces is being looked into under a notion known as the 'Inverse Induction Model'.

Also Read: Pakistani spies use AarogyaSetu app to target Indian military personnel, Army issues warning