An army for tomorrow

Two other issues have exacerbated the problem. First, the quality of life offered to military personnel and their families. While the soldier expects hardships in operational areas, in peace stations he rarely lives the life advertised in slick media campaigns. The quality and availability of accommodation for both officers and men in cantonment towns are abysmal, with sub-standard construction, poor furniture and other faults. Similarly, the quality of rations, electricity and water supply and elements of ‘modernity’, like Internet accessibility, are either sub-par or non-existent. Senior officers, with a few exceptions, are rarely affected, or bothered, as they live walled-off in their palatial bungalows with their numerous sahayaks. Compounding the problem is the near monopoly that the Military Engineering Services has on this sector, which, as economists will point out, usually leads to inefficiency and a lack of responsiveness to the customer. One solution, then, suggests exploring public-private partnerships to deliver the ‘goods’ to military personnel.

The second issue is the anachronistic man-management approach followed within the military. Understandably, the hierarchical and pyramid structure of promotions within the military lends itself to having the largest number of superceded officers amongst all UPSC commissioned officers, with a corresponding loss of motivation and morale. But the problem is further compounded by an archaic system of career planning, placement and human resources development within the services, especially the army. Instead of encouraging officers to follow their interests, thus enriching human capital and creating opportunities, the services follow a rigid and old-fashioned approach to career planning resulting in disgruntled officers who, in turn, discourage others from joining. To reduce officer attrition and increase job satisfaction the services need to think up of imaginative solutions. It should create parallel job streams for personnel to shift towards cyber, nano and space technologies (the frontiers of future warfare), develop a cadre of trained area specialists to take advantage of the country’s growing global aspirations, enhance intellectual capital by encouraging historical research (if the records are ever de-classified), strategic and doctrinal studies and other academic fields. Measures like these can also encourage officers to make a smooth transition to a second career.

Increasing job satisfaction is one way to make a career in the forces an attractive option. However, as the shortage of officers is in the junior ranks, other steps are required to attract youngsters to fill this gap. To begin with, short- service commissions should be made more attractive. Among possible measures is to sponsor seats in top colleges — for MBA, engineering, media studies, perhaps even medical colleges — and offer them to former service members. This could be viewed as a reward to those who serve. Another approach could be to tie up with private sector enterprises, and find ethical ways to encourage those who do, to accommodate suitable former military personnel.

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