The Army is mulling recruitment of jawans on a four-year ‘Tour of Duty’

The Indian armed forces may no longer recruit jawans permanently. A short-term ‘Tour of Duty’ (ToD) scheme is on the anvil. Recruits will be trained for six months and take up soldiering for three and a half years. They get discharged at the end of the four-year term with a decent severance package and a degree or a certificate attesting to their ToD status. The Government feels this is the best way to tackle shortages and infuse the services with fresh blood at short intervals. The short tenure saves the Government expenses on pension and medical benefits — one of the largest cost components. Some of the ToD retirees could later be selected for a longer or a permanent position. The scheme will thus save money and wipe out personnel shortages. The armed forces are short of personnel at present because recruitment rallies were not held in the last two pandemic years. On average, 50,000-60,000 soldiers retire every year. With recruitment suspended, the shortfall stands at over one lakh soldiers. The existing process will take around one and a half years to select and train recruits. By that time, the shortfall will pinch the services much more. The ToD scheme, if implemented right away, cannot solve the problem overnight. If the selection process — the same as the current one — takes six months and the training another six months, the new soldiers will be ready in a year. Thereafter, the process will become seamless.

It remains to be seen how the youth react to the ToD programme. On the face of it, they have no reason not to take up the attractive challenge. It targets those who are at least matriculates and gives them a chance to join the services and retire after just four years, still in their mid-20s, and armed with decent savings and a work certificate to boot. The opportunity saves them from hunger pangs, makes them employed and, in the end, leaves them qualified for better jobs. Importantly, it will keep them off the streets where circumstances force many of them to get into questionable activities. Some immediate thoughts come to mind about the unique scheme. What happens if forces need to be rushed to the borders or when hostilities break out? Can a ToD jawan with six-month training handle a situation at the front line? It is said a soldier needs up to three years to be fully ready for combat and acquire skills related to combat support and combat service support. By the time the recruits become combat-ready, it will be time for them to retire. Will all ToD recruits be trained as combat personnel only? Or are there avenues to promote other careers within the military? For ToD recruits, most of whom may not return for a permanent role in the services, the four-year tenure can then mean an opportunity to acquire vocational skills that can lead them to jobs as discharged soldiers.