Shortage of officers is the root-cause
Major
General Mrinal Suman
Independent
India is 65 years old. If the nation remains united today, the credit goes
entirely to the armed forces. They continue to be the sole source of hope for
this beleaguered country. They are the last bastion against the fissiparous
forces that are inimical to its existence. Therefore, every issue that affects
the well-being of the armed forces must be taken
seriously.
The
recent incident at Sambha is a cause of grave concern. Without
sounding alarmist, there are three developments that do not portend well for the
health of the army – increasing cases of suicides and fratricide; growing
tendency to approach courts for justice; and recent cases of collective
indiscipline. Such occurrences were extremely rare earlier.
Indian
soldiers are reputed for their mental and physical robustness. They fought a war
in sub-zero temperatures in lofty Himalayas without proper winter clothing in
1962 without a word of protest. Have there been any disquieting changes that are
compelling them to resort
to desperate acts?
Why have the soldiers become so restless? Where have the things gone
wrong?
Cases
of Suicide and Fratricide
On
08 August 2012, the Defence Minister informed the Rajya Sabha that a total of
1,028 soldiers from the army had committed suicide since 2003. During the same
period lives of 80 soldiers were lost due to fratricide. There were 102 cases of
suicide in 2011 and 62 soldiers had taken their lives till July this year.
According to the studies conducted by the Defence Institute of Psychological
Research, stress is one of the key factors that drive soldiers to take the
extreme step.
Although
stress is a biological term, it is commonly used in a metaphorical sense. It has
also come to be accepted as a euphemism for describing difficulties faced by an
individual. Failure to adapt to challenges results in perceiving them as
threats, which in turn generates pressures. Extreme pressures become stress.
When stress surpasses ability to handle, it becomes a threat to both physical
and emotional well-being.
Challenges
in military life are different from those faced by civilians, both in terms of
emotional security, psychological
equilibrium and
physical well-being. Resultant stresses
generate the “fight-or-flight” response in many soldiers.
Rapport,
which is a function of inter-personal communication between a commander and his
troops, is the best protection against stress related break-downs. Therefore,
suicides and fratricides are entirely due to the lack of necessary interaction
between officers and their men.
Court
Cases
There
has been an exponential increase in the number of court cases being filed by
service personnel to seek justice. Over one lakh cases pertaining to the armed
forces personnel are pending in various courts and the trend has acquired
alarming dimensions. The most important reason for the surfeit of court cases is
loss of confidence in the fairness of the system. Soldiers feel aggrieved when
they feel deprived of their rightful due, leading to dissentions
and litigations.
The
army has an institutionalised arrangement for an effective internal
complaint-redressal mechanism. While the
commanders keep the troops informed of the latest issues through ‘sainik
sammelans’, soldiers can seek audience with their commanders (‘arzi report’) to
apprise them of their complaint and seek redressal. If not satisfied, they can
submit written appeals to the Chief (non-statutory complaints) and the
Government (statutory complaints).
Unfortunately,
the above mechanism has become defunct and lost its credibility. Interview or
‘Arzi Report’ has degenerated into a
worthless ritual. Most non-statutory and statutory complaints keep shuttling up
and down on technicalities, without the complainants getting any
response.
As
officers are hardly available to attend to troops’ grievances, soldiers feel
neglected and are forced to knock at the doors of the courts. Once again, the
reason is lack of regular interaction between the officers and the troops.
Collective
Indiscipline
Collective
indiscipline in a unit is highly ominous. Indian soldiers are too disciplined to
resort to insubordination unless driven to it. They are inherently very strong
mentally and have a very high threshold of endurance.
Such
incidents do not occur as a result of impulsive outburst but are a manifestation
of simmering discontentment over a long period. Unconfirmed reports, conjectures
and even rumours can give rise to antagonism against the organisation.
A
large number of grievances are due to lack of information and are misplaced. A
minor misconception or misunderstanding can take the form of major dissent if
not noticed and addressed in time. As per press
reports, false news of the death of a soldier in the hospital acted as a trigger
for collective indiscipline in an artillery unit in Leh. Had the leaders been in
regular communication with the troops, they could have scotched the rumour and
prevented the events from taking an ugly turn.
Through
regular interaction, vigilant commanders can learn about issues of disconcert
and take necessary steps to put the soldiers at ease. It is certainly a failure of command, purely due to
lack of required communication with troops.
Shortage
of Officers is Proving Perilous
Management
of stress faced by troops and redressal of their grievances are command
functions. Regular interaction acts as a safety
valve – perceptive leaders can discern warning signals and take steps to
prevent acts of desperation by some over-stressed
soldiers.
The
current worrisome developments show that the existing bond of camaraderie
between the officers and the men is becoming tenuous due to a
dilution of communication between commanders and the
soldiers.
Acute
shortage of officers is the primary cause for the increasing gulf between the
officers and the men.
All
units are being asked to make do with ‘hard scale’ of officers’ strength. With
normal commitment of courses, temporary duties, annual leave and attachments,
some units have to function with 7 to 9 officers. Resultantly, a company which
should have 4-5 officers is being manned by a single officer. It is well nigh
impossible for him either to know all soldiers in his company or to look after
their welfare adequately.
Quite
unfairly, a commanding officer is expected to train and administer his unit with
a handful of officers – a most daunting task. Command of a unit has become an
unenviable challenge.
The
army is facing a shortage of a whopping 26 percent – carrying a deficiency of
over 12,000 officers against the sanctioned strength of 46,500. Authorities are
rightly seized of the matter and the intake is being increased. But it will take
decades for the deficiencies to be made up fully.
There
is a need to take immediate action to mitigate the problem to the extent
possible. Some recommendations are as follows:-
· Presently,
all staff appointments are fully subscribed and units are kept under-posted. It
should be the other way around. It is better to carry deficiencies on staff.
· A
fresh look should be taken at all courses being run and their utility – is the
value of the course worth depriving the unit of the officer’s services. Courses
should not be run purely to sustain training
establishments.
· Every
single young officer should be recalled from ERE duties. No young officer should
be detailed as ADC to the President, Governors and the formation commanders. It
is a most undesirable sight to see young officers being wasted on ceremonial
clap-trap while the units are deprived of their presence.
· There
should be a total ban on the attachment of unit officers to formation
headquarters. Most station duties should be performed by staff officers.
To
many, the above suggestions may appear to be too radical. But drastic problems
need drastic cures. It must be appreciated that units are the real punch of the
army and allowing the current drift to continue can prove perilous.
