In an effort to overcome shortage of officers and attract talent into the armed forces, the Army is mulling a proposal to allow a three-year ‘Tour of Duty’ to common citizens on a trial basis in the force. The induction will be purely voluntary in nature and will have no dilution of selection standards. Those selected will on an average get a higher pay package than their peers in the corporate or civilian sector besides income tax exemption benefits. At present, the briefest stint is for five to 10 years as a Short Service Commission (SSC) inductee.
The Army top brass is considering all aspects of the proposed ‘Tour of Duty” process where in those men and women desirous of donning the uniform, though for a short period, can serve the nation, sources said here on Wednesday.
The proposed scheme will enable the Army both to reduce shortage of officers to a large extent and also bring down the burgeoning salary and pension bill, the sources added.
This is expected to free up funds for modernisation for the Army too. At present, there is a shortfall of more than 8,000 officers in junior positions.
Giving details of the ‘Tour of Duty,’ the term first used by the US during Vietnam when its personnel served stints of six months to a year and then re-inducted for the next ‘tour,’ sources said the induction will be for both officers and other ranks initially for a limited number of vacancies and then expanded later.
The overall purpose of this entry scheme is ‘internship/temporary experience’ and so there will be no requirement of attractive severance packages, resettlement courses, professional encashment training leave, ex-servicemen status and Ex-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS).
Elaborating upon the expenditure, they said the cost of training incurred on each personnel compared to the limited employment of the manpower for three years is more. Explaining the benefits of the proposed scheme, they said the cumulative approximate cost of pre-commission training, pay, allowances, gratuity, proposed severance packages, leave encashment and other costs is nearly Rs 5.12 crore and Rs 6.83 crore respectively on an SSC officer if he or she is released from Service after 10 and 14 years.
The overall cost goes up even further as 50-60% of the SSC officers opt for Permanent Commission and continue in service till 54 years and thereafter as pension benefits. However, similar costs for those released after three years is just Rs 80-85 lakh, they said.
Similarly, estimates for a non-commissioned soldier with 17 years of service as compared to with the ‘Tour of Duty’ jawan with three-years-service, shows that the prospective lifetime savings for just one Jawan is Rs 11.5 crore. Therefore, savings for only 1,000 jawans could be ?11,000 crore which could be used for the much needed modernisation of the Army, the proposal said.
Underlining the advantages of the scheme, officials said it focuses on those individuals who do not want a full career in the Army but still want to put on the Uniform.
Those opting for this process will get a much higher salary than their peers on an average who start a career in the corporate sector. They will also have advantage after leaving the Service and going to the Corporate sector, the proposal States. The Army hopes this scheme will attract individuals from the best colleges.
The proposal has suggested several measures to incentivise this scheme like a tax-free income for three years and a token lumpsum at the end of three years about Rs 5-6 lakh for officers and Rs 2-3 lakh for jawan.
The Army’s pay and pension bill has been increasingly steeply over the years accounting for 60% of the Army’s budget allocation. During the last five years though the growth in defence budget has been 68%, and for defence salaries 75%, defence pensions have increased by a staggering 146%.