Of Matters Military. Mrinal Suman

is not as bad as persisting with them. Like all bureaucratic organisations, the services find it extremely difficult to admit the blunders made, thereby making their rectification impossible. Instead of extricating themselves boldly from an untenable abyss, they try to justify their actions through frequent policy amendments, thereby getting sucked further down in a deep hole. Three issues are discussed hereunder to illustrate the point.

       Raising of Entry Criteria for the National Defence Academy

      Shortage of officers in the services has been defying solution. It is often said that adequate number of suitable youth are not coming forward to join the services as other professions have become more lucrative. Under-subscription of seats at the National Defence Academy (NDA) is cited as a proof of these assertions.

      Unfortunately, the primary cause for the above under-subscription is of the services’ own making. Till 1980s, NDA enjoyed the ‘first pick advantage’ and attracted the brightest youth. As Class X was the minimum qualification for entry to the NDA and the age group was 15 to 17 years, entry into NDA was the first ever career option that became available to the youth. Understandably, parents encouraged their sons to sit for NDA examination and be settled in a career at the earliest. As no other career option was available at that stage, most bright boys considered it prudent to give NDA a try. Resultantly, NDA gained and the quality of intake was always very high.

      Further, as the average age of candidates at the time of joining NDA used to be between 16 to 17 years, their trainability quotient was very high. Periods of early adolescence and middle adolescence are undoubtedly the best for imparting training and moulding trainees as per the requirements of the services. With motivational levels ruling high, young cadets of impressionable age developed necessary mental and physical robustness with ease.

      NDA cadets, after four years of training, got commission at an average age of 20/21 years and kept the age profile young at junior levels. Moreover, they served the services for longer period. Resultantly, for the same quantum of resources invested in training an officer, the services got better returns by way of longer service span.

      In a blunder of monumental proportions, entry qualification was raised to 10+2 and consequently, the age group rose to 16^1/2 to 19 years. The fallout of this ill-advised move was quick and severe. As youth had the option to try other careers and avenues, NDA became one of the many choices, if not the last one. Most candidates sat for the NDA examination only after failing to make the grade elsewhere. Thus, NDA lost the unique ‘first pick advantage’. Instead of catching the bright sparks young, it ended up competing with other careers.

      With average age of over 18 years at the time of entry, cadets are near-adults. With well set mindsets, habits and behavioural traits, they resist change and are difficult to train. Since normal age at commissioning has climbed to 22 years; service span has got correspondingly reduced.

      As can be seen, raising of entry criteria proved highly detrimental to the services’ interests. Justification given for the misguided move is laughable. It was averred that entry qualification of 10+2 is essential to grant graduation degree to cadets at the time of passing out to help them in seeking second career after retirement. Can there be a more ridiculous reason? While selecting a young boy, imperatives of military career are being subordinated to his post retirement resettlement after 30 years or more of military service. Trust the services to harm their own interests through misplaced priorities and thoughtlessness.

       Induction of Women

      In early 90s, when the euphoria on induction of women was still raging, a group of Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) was overheard discussing the issue in all seriousness. The oldest JCO in the group remarked, “The Army has enough problems at hand. I do not know why another one is being sought.” Another JCO made a confident declaration, “The Army is going to rue its decision in near future.” There was a rare unanimity in the group – they were all convinced that the move to induct women was ill-conceived and totally unwarranted. Events of the last few years have proved their apprehensions to be prophetic. The said group of JCOs could foresee what the top brass of the services failed to.

      As the recent events have shown, the services are in serious trouble and are struggling to contain the damage. Instead of earning kudos for giving women a chance, they are getting flak from the judiciary, media and self-appointed experts. Demands are being made to grant permanent commission to women in the combat arms, a demand that is unprecedented in any army of the world. Worse, some have gone to the ridiculous extent of demanding constitution of all women battalions. A matter that critically affects the health of the services has been belittled as one of ‘equality of sexes’. True to their propensity for damaging their own cause, the services are in a deep mess which is totally of their own making.

      The decision to induct women, taken in the early 90s by a service Chief, was neither need-based nor well thought-through. No attempt was made to study likely long term implications of multiple issues involved. In other words, a decision of colossal significance was taken in a totally cavalier and hasty manner. The first batch of women Short Service Commission (SSC) officers joined in 1992. As the other two services did not want to be seen as ‘male-chauvinists’, they followed suit. Soon a race got underway between the three services. It is only now that a plethora of complex issues are getting thrown up with resultant adverse fall-out.

      To date, no one has been able to justify the decision to induct women in the services – it was not a need based policy. Low-tech Indian military is totally dependent on raw physical strength of its manpower. With their abysmally poor physical fitness standards, women just cannot perform these tasks. Moreover, they suffer from frequent back problems, pelvic injuries and stress fractures. As very few desk jobs are available, most commanders are at a loss to employ them gainfully.