How can the Army make a career in the force more attractive?

As the nation celebrates Army Day today (15 January), it can safely be asserted that the Indian army continues to perform its duties with admirable dedication and sense of duty. It is truly the pride of the nation—both in war and in peace. But even as we laud our men in olive green who keep the nation safe for us to enjoy the fruits of development and prosperity, it is also necessary to take a closer look at many problems that beset the force. 

Broadly, the Indian army is faced with three main problems: Shortage of officers at the cutting edge level, slow pace of acquisitions of weapons and platforms and overuse of the military in operations other than war (OOW). Since a column is not sufficient to dwell upon each of these aspects, for the moment, let me discuss the first point, the shortage of officers in the junior ranks.
 
The 1.13 million-strong Indian Army has an authorised strength of about 43,000 officers. As of July 2014 however it was short of 8455 officers, majority in the rank of captain, and major, officers who lead troops on ground. If one looked at the situation positively, this is a far better position than the one in 2009 when the Army was short of a staggering 13,000 plus officers. Since then a combination of extending the tenure of short service commissioned (SSC) officers by four years, higher intake in the training academies and creation of more avenues to join the Army, has reduced the shortage. 
 
Historically, the Army has consistently had a shortfall of about 15-18% of its authorised strength. So, in a way, the current figures are in the 'acceptable' range. But given that the Army's role and responsibilities are increasing by the day, the Army cannot afford to let the momentum it has achieved in the last few years slip.
 
In 2015, human resource managers in the Indian armed forces will have to live with the fact that youngsters coming out of higher secondary schools and colleges have many other, more attractive careers than soldiering to pursue. So, those who want to become soldiers are not necessarily the best of the lot. However, time-tested training methods, updated frequently, are sufficient to bring most of the new recruits to an acceptable standard.
 
Cognizant of the reality, the Army in particular, has now come up with a proposal to make short service commission more attractive. Army Chief Gen Dalbir Singh, answering my question during his annual press interaction on 13 January, admitted that currently the ratio of Permanent Commission Officers to the Short Service Commissioned ones is skewed.  “It is 4.7:1. Our aim is to bring it to 1.1:1,” he said. Currently, SSC is not as attractive as the permanent commission," Gen Singh confessed. The Army HQ has however now proposed to make the SSC more attractive.

According to those in the know, the SSC officers would be given an option to serve for five, 10 and 14 years. An attractive severance package coupled with a paid study leave at the end of the tenure has been mooted. Those who serve for five years for example, would be given a one-year study leave option along with a lump sump grant of about Rs 10 lakh so that those who leave can take up a second career without much difficulty. The lump sum amount and the period of study leave would increase proportionally for those who quit after 10 and 14 years. This proposal, if implemented, would save the Army some money in the long run. But more than the financial gain, Army HQ is hoping that this will attract more young men and women with a yen for adventure and a sense of national duty to join the Army and then pursue a second innings. The Army's proposal is now with the Finance Ministry. The aim is to improve opportunities for a second career for retired personnel, who are a highly trained and disciplined pool of experience and knowledge and have given their best years in the service of the nation, the Army Chief said.

While the shortage in junior ranks is being sought to be overcome through innovation, Army HQ is also looking closely at tweaking the policies for the higher ranks. The Army's higher echelons are not short of experienced hands but there is a saturation of officers in the middle-ranking position of a colonel, leading to huge stagnation in that rank. Often, officers have had to spend up to a decade in the colonel's rank before getting promoted. 
 
As a result, the journey of an officer in the top three ranks—Brigadier, Major General, Lieutenant general—is accelerated forcing the Army's personnel department, called the Military Secretary's branch, to move top commanders from their posts after very short tenures. Thirteen Lt. Generals, who head 13 different Corps of the Indian Army, have been spending as little as 364 days in their posts for the past several years. General Dalbir Singh admitted that this is not a healthy situation since Corps Commanders get moved out even before they have time to fully familiarise themselves with their areas of responsibility. “We have had to adopt this policy for the past few areas after more vacancies were created following the implementation of the AV Singh Committee recommendations,” the Army Chief said. However, steps are now being taken to give slightly longer tenures to brigade and divisional commanders down the chain so that they can serve more effectively, the Army Chief declared.
 
As an Army that has traditionally been led from the front by officers, it is but natural that human resource management policies would concentrate on them. But welfare of soldiers too is a major area of focus in the Army headquarters. As the Army Chief said, “Our most valuable asset remains our highly committed Human Resource. Improving their standard of living remains my key thrust area. There has been a major improvement in the quality of rations, clothing and stores over the last year, however much more needs to be done. In order to meet the growing requirements for married accommodation, construction of approx 70,000 dwelling units with modern amenities is being planned under Married Accommodation Project (MAP) III this year. Soldier empowerment, improved health facilities and quality education for the children of our personnel will always remain high on my list of priorities.”
 
As a retired general has aptly said,  “Institutions do not transform— its people do; platforms and organisations do not defend the country— people do; and units and formations do not sacrifice and take risks for the nation— people do!” Fortunately, the Indian Army is living up to its decades old doctrine which defined Human Resource Development as an essential command function. On Army Day, let's hope the Indian Army continues to retain its primacy in the hearts and minds of the Indian citizens.