Compulsory military service for those seeking govt jobs, says Parliamentary Standing Committee

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All those who want a cushy government job either with state or central government – may have to put in a compulsory five years with the armed forces to make-up for the shortage of personnel in the armed forces.

The Indian Army alone is short of over 7,000 officers and over 20,000 men. Likewise, the Indian Air Force has a shortage of nearly 150 officers and over 15,000 men and the Indian Navy is short of 150 officers and nearly 15,000 men.

The central government alone has about 30 lakh employees with the Indian Railways, while the state governments employ about another two crore people.

Compulsory military service for those who want a subsequent employment with the government is being considered by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT)- a wing of government that reports to the Prime Minister. The wing is tasked with administering and making policy for all government servants.

The proposal to make military service compulsory for future government servants was moved by the Ministry of Defence as an emergency measure to fill the shortfall in the armed forces.

Compulsory military service for aspirants of government employment has been recommended by the Parliamentary Standing Committee.

The Committee while recommending five years compulsory military service to such aspirants wanting directly to join central and state government gazetted services have taken into account the fact that there are perennial and alarming shortages of officers and men in the Armed Forces, which needs to correct, a recently tabled report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee observed.

The Parliamentary Committee has also asked the Ministry of Defence to push with the DoPT with more vigour and earnestness. Apparently, the Ministry of Defence has not taken up the matter with due seriousness.