SOLDIERS
JAI JAWAN, JAI KISAN

In 1947, nearly 90 per cent of the Indian Army was from north-western India, almost all from the rural areas. Partition and political democracy opened up the army to Backward Castes in the '60s. Now, urbanisation, a conscious policy of "nationalising" the army and education are changing the face of the Indian soldiery. Though a quarter of the country is now urban, currently some 15 per cent of the armed personnel come from such areas, up from 11 per cent in 1965. Employment opportunity, prestige and an upward social mobility form the mix of motives that persuade most jawans to join the 11 lakh-strong Indian Army. Lance Naik Ishaq Khan is a typical soldier who says that neither tradition nor a martial bent made him join the army, but the need for regular employment and the prestige associated with soldiering in his village, Bhainsrawat, in Rajasthan's Alwar district. Like all soldiers who join up today, he has studied till Class X. There are others like Naik Subhash Yadav, a Haryana villager with an MA and BEd, who has joined the army because of the prestige attached to it. Yadav is hoping to become an officer through the Army Cadet Corps.

The imprint of colonialism is still visible in the army's social and demographic face. The northern region's contribution to the army's strength is now dipping below 50 per cent. Since the Great Mutiny of 1857, recruitment was from castes and ethnic groups that were loyal to the British -- Punjabis, people in Uttar Pradesh and the Himachal hills and the doughty Gorkhas. Because of this, army units even today are of three types. The fixed class battalions consisting of soldiers of one caste or ethnic group (Gorkhas, Sikh Regiment, the Sikh Light Infantry), the mixed class (Kumaon and Assam Regiments). The Armoured Corps, Mechanised Infantry and the technical arms are "all-India, all-class". Till as late as 1965-66, 31 per cent of those recruited came from Punjab and 18 per cent from Uttar Pradesh, mainly from its mountain areas. Since 1984, the army has based its recruitment on a calculation of the "recruitable male population" (RMP), determined from the proportion of males between the ages of 17 and 25 in the population of a particular state.

ARMY LIFE
A WORLD IN ITSELF

In retreat everywhere else, is the varna system emerging in the army? There was a touch of imperial genius in the British tactic of separating the Indian Army from society by paying them directly, keeping them aloof in cantonments and fostering a sense of tradition and loyalty to the regiment rather than the country. In its isolated world, the army believes it is a breed apart.

Major-General S.C.S. Sinha, who retired in 1984, was commissioned in the 2nd (Maratha) Parachute Regiment and commanded the 6th. Today, one of his sons Deepak commands the 2nd Para, and the other, Ashok, is a major in the Army Medical Corps. Grandson Samrat is studying to qualify for the nda. Sinha's is an increasingly typical story in the army. Army chief Ved Malik commanded the 10 Sikh LI; today his son, a major, is hoping to do the same. Both father and son have another connection with the army -- their spouses have been or are army officers -- doctors in the Army Medical Corps. Four brothers of Lt-General S.S. Mehta, erstwhile commander of the crack 2 Corps and now deputy chief of the army staff, are in the army. The trend is not confined to the males. Indeed, many of the young women who have joined the services are daughters of officers. Lt Kavita Deswal's father, for instance, is Brigadier O.P Deswal.

As the NDA and IMA figures show, there is a distinct rise in the number of officers who come from a service background or from schools designed to train officers such as the Rashtriya Indian Military College, dehradun, or the various Sainik Schools. Soldiers can also become officers through the Army Cadet Corps but the going is tough. In the past six years, some 600 attempted the test, but only 20 per cent could make it.

Lt-General V.R. Raghavan does not see any special design in this trend. He says that the constant transfers of military personnel affect the education of the children. "What kind of an environment can you get in Nagrota (cantonment near Jammu) or Narangi (near Guwahati)?" he asks. As a consequence, the only career their parents can prepare them for is one which they are familiar with -- the army. Perhaps he is overstating the case, a career in the armed forces has been, notwithstanding the risk element, a means of social advancement. But a Praetorian army isn't healthy for a democratic society, specially where it is in combat and losing, as the Indian Army does, an average of 200 to 300 people each year for the past seven years. This creates a resentful class that believes the burdens of security and sacrifices aren't being equally shared by all segments of society.

WOMEN IN THE ARMY
MARCHING PROUD

They may push it as an act of gender justice, but the fact is that women are being welcomed into the army because they are needed. The army admits to a shortage of officers, but its bigger worry is that it is not attracting the right kind of men. Well, with women, they seem to have struck a gold mine. Captain Upma Saxena from Rewa is a BTech in electronics and telecom engineering, Lt Vriandaba Gohil a BSc in physics from Gujarat University, Lt Shally Sharma, an MSc in human development from Jammu and Lt Nupur Gupta of Delhi has a master's degree in commerce with three years' articleship as a chartered accountant.

The army is an exhilarating and, perhaps, a liberating experience for these young women. Asked whether she would like to be a combat officer, Lt Kavita Deswal, currently with the Army Supply Corps, replies with an emphatic "yes". Given the choice, she says, "I will opt for the infantry and request the right to join my father's 14th Bihar." As for marriage, she says curtly, "there are no plans for the near future." Deswal, who formed part of the mounted contingent in the Republic Day Parade, learnt horse riding in the army and is keen to pursue it as a sport.

The army has always had a number of lady officers in its Medical Corps, but recruitment of women in branches like Signals, Ordnance Corps and the Army Service Corps is seen as an experimental short-term measure. So far, beginning in 1991, some 350 women officers have been recruited, with the vacancies increasing slowly but steadily from 50 to the current 100 per year.

Almost all the half-dozen women officers interviewed by India Today ranked "discipline" as the first thing they liked about life in the army; the second, naturally and rather predictably, was organisation. For some, there was the irresistible fascination with dad's uniform and there were others like Lt Srikala C. from Bangalore, who thought it would be "interesting" to try something different.

Life for women officers is fairly relaxed. Not for them the rigours of the US Marine (Women) Physical Training Test or combat posting. A leisurely 2.4 km run is all they are expected to clear, though they do learn how to use weapons. The Indian Army is a socially conservative outfit and is still not comfortable with having women in the forces. So far only a short five-years' commission, extendible by another five, is being offered to them. But if trends in recruitment of men continue the way they are, there may be very little choice.