The recent statement of the Indian Army chief, General Deepak Kapoor, that the government may have to consider conscription in the future has rightfully focused attention on the shortage of officers in all three services of the Indian military. Some commentators have cynically dismissed his statement as public posturing aimed towards influencing the sixth pay commission that, according to the grapevine, falls short of expectations. However, unlike what the army leadership would have us believe, there are deeper issues at work that cannot be fixed by a mere pay-hike. They require an improved utilisation of human resources, enhanced facilities for serving personnel and a sophisticated response from senior military officers, civilian bureaucrats and political leaders. It is as yet unclear if any of this is forthcoming.

The scale of the officer shortage is, in itself, alarming. According to some reports, the army faces a shortage of 25 per cent of its authorised strength, the air force 13 per cent and the navy 16 per cent, with most vacancies in junior officers’ ranks. It would be logically hard to explain why a shortage of junior officers does not adversely impact the efficiency of the Indian armed forces. Especially since junior officers have been at the forefront of all operations — from the confusing jungles of Sri Lanka, the insurgencies that dot India’s periphery to the heroic mountains in Kargil, India’s finest have been fighting, dying but winning against impossible odds. Making up for the shortfall should be an operational necessity and not, as it seems, a mere statistic.

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