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DEFENCE,
ARMY RECRUITMENT
Fighting Unfit
Despite
Kargil whipping up a fervour army vacancies are on the rise. Alarmed,
the generals are banking on a slick advertisement campaign to rope in
recruits.
By
Harinder Baweja
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| The
army is attempting to address the upwardly mobile aspect in its campaign
by using pictures that show officers at evening balls and polo grounds |
It
is a little over one year since the Kargil war. Just over a year since
Operation Vijay enthralled the nation and generated a nationwide patriotic
fervour. When the youth queued up outside army recruitment centres and
demanded that they be sent to the snow-clad peaks. When the arrival of
body bags aroused fierce passions and made the Indian Army, the country's
hero No 1.
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Crippling
Shortage
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»Infantry
vacancies continue to grow in spite of Kargil-generated wave.
»Of
the 913 IMA graduates in the May and June batches, only 130 opted
for the 292 infantry slots.
»The
army plans to induct 1,400 officers by 2001 but an internal note
suggests the deficiency level of officers will only be brought down
to 20 per cent by 2010 and to 10-15 per cent by 2020.
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That truly
seems a whole year ago. Because even as the Army Headquarters celebrated
the victory in Kargil, a section of senior officers in South Block were
poring over papers-even working over the weekends-to solve one of the
most serious problems the army faces: a deficit of 13,000 officers. The
crucial problem of shortage of officers has been there for some time-hovering
at around an alarming 30 per cent-but what is worrying, as one officer
puts it, is the fact that "far from luring the youth to join the
army, the Kargil war is acting as some sort of a dampner, for the vacancies
in the infantry are on the rise''.
The foot
soldiers covered themselves with glory last year and the younger officers-lieutenants,
captains and majors-were lauded and given their due share for being the
actual heroes of Kargil. But an enthusiasm for the infantry is not reflected
amongst the GCS, or graduating Gentleman Cadets as they are called in
the army. Take the figures for the year 2000. Of the 492 GCS who passed
out of the Indian Military Academy (IMA) in May, only 60 opted for the
infantry which was hoping to fill all its 152 vacancies. Similarly, out
of 421 IMA graduates in June, only 70 opted for the infantry. leaving
70 more vacancies unfilled.
Pictures
of heroic young officers who captured Tiger Hill-a young lieutenant was
awarded the Param Vir Chakra for the feat-and other strategic locations
seem to have remained in the realm of memory alone. A study recently conducted
by market research agency mode amongst those considering the army as a
career shows that while the army is considered to be an organisation that
inculcates leadership qualities, it still suffers from an image of offering
a career fraught with risk and danger. This seems to be borne out by even
those who have gone ahead and graduated from the IMA, for the infantry
seems to be becoming the most unpopular choice. The problem, according
to a senior officer, is "the increased involvement of the army in
counter-insurgency operations''. Caught in the thick of battle in Kashmir
and the North-east and earlier in Punjab, there has been little respite
for the infantry, for the units keep moving from one troubled spot to
another, leaving no room for family life.
Officers
trying to cope with the problem recently circulated an internal note which
said, "The army has for long been faced by large-scale deficiencies
in the officer cadre, particularly in the junior ranks. While the overall
shortage is in the region of 30 per cent, the deficiencies in the ranks
of captains and lieutenants are as high as 40 per cent." It noted
with a sense of urgency that "with the extensive involvement of the
army in combating insurgency in the country, coupled with a distinct qualitative
and quantitative increase in militant activities, particularly in the
post-Kargil period, such large-scale deficiencies of young officers can
no longer be ignored". The report went on to add that since counter-insurgency
operations are "junior leader-centric", shortages in units have
greatly hampered such operations, particularly in the extremely rugged
terrain and hostile climatic conditions in which such combat is generally
carried out.
Grappling
with the problem of a shortage in its ranks, the army hired top advertising
agency Hindustan Thompson Associates (HTA) to run a nation-wide advertising
blitz through print and on television to attract young people. First commissioned
in 1997, the army has kept aside a budget of Rs 5 crore for the project
in the hope that the campaign will create an awareness about the army
as a career option. More than anything, it hopes that the audio-visuals,
shown on channels like MTV and Star World will help build a relative preference
for the army vis-a-vis other career options and attract the youth from
metros and not just towns.
The problem,
however, really is of quality, for even though awareness has grown since
the advertisement campaign was launched, the rejection rate is still very
high. And the problem persists despite Kargil. Says Kamal Oberoi, HTA's
senior vice-president: "The war has provided a backdrop; we want
the army to be seen as an institution that has heroes.'' Therefore, it
came up with challenging slogans. "Do you have it in you?" the
spots asked. To be on top of Mt Everest at age 23; to command 32 men who
would live or die by your word or to land a chopper on a river of ice.
more...They
Have It In Them But...
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