Does The Indian Army Need Conscription?

That's the last thing the Indian Army would resort to, but the Army Chief seems to be desperate about draft or conscription. Till now, India has the largest army on the basis of voluntary services, the military draft has never been imposed on its citizens. But thanks to the tech and economic boom, most of the individuals are being lost to corporate giants. In the last three to four years, there has been a steady decline in number of candidates appearing for the NDA or IMA exams.

One of the most important factors which still bugs the indian soldier is the salary. Although the government has provided lots of other goodies, like free ration(foodgrains), Rs.20 lakh security cover, separate living quarters, and many such crunchies, the payscales are too low. As a result, it fails to attract the youth.

But, a career in the armed forces fulfills one wish - job security. Since it's a government job, your job is highly secured. Apart from increasing the number of employed officials, draft has other advantages too. For instance, it has helped China in checking it's rapid population growth. Perhaps, it may also inculcate some discipline amongst youngsters, who, these days are brimming with arrogance and over-confidence. And yes, fitness can be very well taken care of. But I would suggest, that the cadres should serve for a maximum period of 2 years, beyond which they should be given the option of discontinuing or continuing their services.

If at all draft is really introduced, the government would face a tough task of training lakhs of youngsters as there would be an infrastructure crunch. Moreover, the quality which is usually maintained would dip by leaps and bounds. And again comes one of India's major problems - corruption. All big-shots can very well bribe officials to exempt their children from conscription. And what's more, the entire system(education and political) would need a revamp.

So, you can see that draft can be beneficial, but sometimes may get foul as well. What do think? Should conscription be introduce in the Indian Armed Forces? You can also vote in the sidebar on the top in the poll section.........