From more than two & half centuries our Indian Army has been looked up with great admiration for its spirit, bravery, conduct and hospitality. Punctuality,discipline and class in infused in the blood of every soldier and their families.
Indian Army as we know has still got the lowest recruitment percentage and highest attrition level. Is the fact that your life can be put at stake any time, the only reason for youth not choosing Indian Army? Well over the past couple of years, I have come across numerous other reasons. Words like corruption, unfair practice, bribery etc have become favorites of the Indian Army and added to this long sinful list is the word “NEPOTISM”.
Nepotism, that is, preferential treatment is meted out not just from person to person but also seen amongst the different sections of the forces.
To give a brief, the Indian Army is divided into two kinds of forces –
1.Fighting Force – such as Infantry, Armed, Artillery which takes away the cherry on the cake for being the reason for nation’s pride with the VSM, AVSM, PVSM being offered to the officers mainly from these Corps. Though the locations they are sent to our unimaginable to the common man however the favoritism they are showered with are no doubt a strong discrimination in comparison to the other departments. Be it the pay scale or higher promotion percentage into the 3 star (Generals) bracket or simply getting preference where allotting accommodation is concerned. They have always remained an “Apple of Indian Army’s Eye”
2.Support Services – ASC, Signals, EME, Ordinance, Intelligence and others which are the backbone of the entire Indian Army performing duties ranging from logistics to keeping a track of highly sensitive information. However a whiff of being neglected has been sensed by these services over the years. Someone I met said
“I feel like being treated as a Second-Rate citizen.”
They are also soldiers and if we go by the phrase “Brothers In Arm”, I regret to say that the brotherhood seems to be lost somewhere and has become department and religion or caste biased
Is this another interpretation of Karl Marx’s The Haves and The Have – Nots?
With such a divide between the worlds’s largest army how do we expect the young blood to even consider Indian Army as a career option and that too not as an alternative? Come to think of it this divide is not known to the public. However once it is known it is accurate as it would come right from the horse’s mouth.
Think of Indian Army as a human body where the fighting forces can be the shoulders, hands, arms and legs that holds the arms & ammunitions.
The support services can be the stomach, brain, mouth & ear or other relevant body part. Few examples how support services help in the functioning of Indian Army.
ASC – stomach – as it takes care of the rationing of the soldiers. To fight the enemy it is important for our soldiers too get timely and adequate supply of ration. The ASC also is responsible for the transport & petrol or diesel provided in the Army. I am sure nobody can imagine being in this profession without the transport facility. After all going to Kargil or Siachin Glacier is not an evening stroll that one takes. Most Importantly the Army would not be able to participate in the Republic Day Parade if there was no transport like One-Tons, Three-Tons, Jeep, Jonga & Staff Car.
SIGNALS – mouth & ear – as it is the department for telecommunication. Without this department the communication amongst all the departments will be impossible. Also how would the fighting forces put forward their urgent requirement of more men or ammunitions during a war situation, the enemy is not going to wait for them to go to the base & get the needful. Also this telecommunication service helps to track any call made by the terrorists or even the infiltrators to plan their strategies accordingly.
There are many other departments in the support services which are equally important in making our Indian Army the 3rd largest army in the world. My apologies for not writing about them since I have no proper knowledge of their work and do not want to beat around the bush
Now, without these pre requisite support services our Indian Army, which is a replica of human body will be nothing but a vegetable, all ready to be chopped by the enemy forces.
To, conclude Indian Army is although one for all and all for one, however this is limited only within certain departments or amongst a certain sect of soldiers
In the end I would like to put forward a question to the readers, “WHY DESTINY’S CHILD IN THE ARMY SHOULD BE THE FIGHTING FORCES ONLY?”
