A draft

I remember reading last year that of the 250 seats offered in the december course of the Indian Military Academy (IMA) only 84 people joined. For a country of more then a billion that is just amazing. As much as this may say about the youth of our country it says as much about the Indian Army as well.

Entry to the armed forces is after 12th class or after graduation. I feel that the class and caliber of people the armed forces are looking for, do not want to quit studying after 12th or in case of graduates, want jobs that have something to do with what they did in college. Somehow the armed forces haven't quite made arrangements to accommodate such people.

I have had decent exposure to the armed forces way of life. I have a lot of friends who are serving in the armed forces. It is in all honesty a reasonable life. Yes, it is at times hard, but is nowhere as near as "hostile" as it is perceived to be. For what it's worth I feel it is a much more comfortable and meaningful life then the crappy "BPO/KPO dream" that thousands of young Indians seem to want to pursue.

So back to the original piece I had read, The cheif of army staff had suggested that a draft might be a good option going forward. While this works in countries like the US and some EU countries I really don't think this would work in India. Our largely agrarian/service oriented society is a far cry from the gun slinging cultures of the west. Plus I don't think this is something politicians in our country will ever embrace.

The armed forces need to be thinking in other directions to attract people. One of the areas where I am personally disappointed with the armed forces is their capability to absorb and more importantly, utilize the skills of highly educated people. In the west, working for the armed forces and/or law enforcement is a very attractive proposition for the best graduates. For example the US armed forces, intelligence agencies and federal law enforcement make it a point to try and absorb the best talent graduating from top notch US universities. Today the Indian armed forces do not have a place for high skill graduates. It is time that the armed forces realized that there is much more to forming an effective military then conscripting able young men and packing them off to 18,000 feet. Yes we need people to do that as well, but there are high skill graduates in India who might wish serve in the armed forces, whose skills the armed forces could very well do with, who don't see a place for themselves in present armed forces setup.

And as for those people who join the armed forces after their 12th class, it's really not much of an education. In other countries joining the armed forces is a route to college. In India sadly, the options of education for a young officer are rather poor. The so called engineering that people study through the technical entry scheme of the army is at the college of military engineering which is really not much better then any B-grade college. I feel that people in the armed forces who wish to study must be allowed to do so at top places like the IIT's or AIIMS. For those who cry about merit: These people have committed to serve the country. Letting them study in good colleges is the least we can do for them. At any rate 50% of people in these places aren't exactly meritorious.

It's time the armed forces offered something concrete to those who join them. Simply calling India's youth unpatriotic and driven by the greed for money is just not on. It is a lame excuse to sidestep the problems the structure of the armed forces faces. The armed forces must wake up to the reality that they face direct competition from India Inc. They must face this competition with the same flair that has made them a respected force in the world. A draft will not do!