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prime concern RecruitmentPunjab youth out of breath for Forces Punjab has been a strong arm of the defence forces and took pride in sending its youth to the Services, but that was a long time ago. The state's contribution to the armed forces is now consistently on the wane. By Vijay Mohan For a state with deep martial tradition, the lure of the uniform is apparently marching into the sunset. Once considered the sword arm of the nation, having the lion's share in not only the rank and file of the armed forces, but also in the officer cadre, the contribution of Punjab to the profession of arms is in retreat.
last word Mulayam Singh Yadav |
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Recruitment Punjab youth out of breath for Forces Punjab has been a strong arm of the defence forces and took pride in sending its youth to the Services, but that was a long time ago. The state's contribution to the armed forces is now consistently on the wane. By Vijay Mohan
For
a state with deep martial tradition, the lure of the uniform is apparently marching into the sunset. Once considered the sword arm of the nation, having the lion's share in not only the rank and file of the armed forces, but also in the officer cadre, the contribution of Punjab to the profession of arms is in retreat.
A glance at the recent recruitment figures underscores the trend. While the numbers for the Army flip-flops, the decline in recruitment of personnel below officer rank (PBOR) for the Navy and the Air Force has been consistent and drastic. From an intake of 270 sailors from Punjab in 2010, the Navy could take 81 on board in 2012. For the Air Force, the recruitment figures fell from 153 in 2010 to just 65 in 2012, as per the figures placed by Defence Minister AK Antony in Parliament on December 19. The decline in numbers from Punjab is no longer restricted to the officer cadre, as was the case earlier, but has also afflicted other ranks. It is alarming, considering the state has a large youth population and high unemployment rate. Out of the course strength of 615, there were only 20 officers from Punjab in the course that passed out from the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun, on December 8 - a huge drop from the early years when officers from Punjab comprised almost 40 per cent of the course strength.
Falling numbers
The shortage of officers in the armed forces has been much debated for almost two decades. The defence forces are short of 53,741 PBOR. For the world's second-most populous nation, with the world's largest youth population and a high unemployment rate, and where the recruitment criteria for PBOR (except for certain technical categories) is physical fitness and secondary education, deficiency in the lower echelons is a matter of serious concern. Unlike as for the intake of officers in the armed forces, which is done on an all-India basis where the state domicile of the candidate is irrelevant, the recruitment norms for PBOR are different. In the Army, the PBOR are enrolled on the basis of the 'recruitable male population' (RMP) of the state concerned, which is the proportion of its population between 18-24 years that is deemed to be eligible for military service. Higher the population of a state, greater will be the RMP and more vacancies will be allotted to that state. For non-artificer sailors in the Navy, recruitment is done on an all-India basis on state-wise merit of the eligible RMP in accordance with the number of vacancies. For artificer sailors and PBOR in the Air Force, recruitment is done on an all-India merit basis.
State quota
There are instances where some states are unable to fill the vacancies allotted to them under the RMP criteria. There vacancies are filled from other states and Punjab, along with some other states like Haryana, has been a beneficiary of this overflow. Punjab's population, as per the 2011 Census, is 2.77 crore, with 1.46 crore being male. The relatively small size of the population notwithstanding, sources in the armed forces estimate personnel from Punjab constitute over 23 per cent of the services, even though the figure is on the decline. Maj-Gen Rajesh Bawa, General Officer Commanding, Mumbai Sub-Area, stated during Vijay Diwas celebrations that the maximum recruitment in the Army was now from Maharashtra. In 2011, when recruitment from Punjab was the highest in the past three years (see box), the Army had projected 70,457 vacancies, out of which 61,269 were filled. Punjab's contribution was 3,449 troops, making for 5.6 per cent of the enrollment. Officers dealing with recruitment and manpower planning claim the reason for the decline is not due to limitations imposed by the quota under the RMP criteria. "If that was the case, the intake in the Army would have been drastically impacted and not in the Air Force or Navy, where the RMP factor does not come into play," an officer in a branch recruitment office says. The Defence Minister has reiterated among the major reasons for the shortage were difficult service conditions, perceived high risks, stringent selection criteria and lucrative alternative career avenues. The reasons go beyond just recruitment quotas or pay packets. The crux lies in the prevailing socio-economic environment. The fallout could have wider ramifications at the national level in terms of development, social harmony and internal security. Ineffective education at the grass roots, deteriorating health standards and the ever-growing menace of drug and alcohol abuse are posing a serious challenge to the economic and social health of the state. Officers cite the poor standard of education in Punjab as the major reason. "It is not that youngsters are not coming forward, but their standard of education is so low that they are unable to qualify in the written tests," Brig IS Gakhal, former Director Sainik Welfare, Punjab, says. As far as the Army is concerned, many candidates who clear the physical parameters flunk in the written tests, while in the Air Force and Navy, the written tests at the initial stage eliminate a lot of candidates before the physical proficiency screening, where there are further dropouts. The state of educational infrastructure in Punjab, especially in rural and border areas, is deplorable. Thousands of posts of teacher are vacant. The dismal teacher-student ratio, apathetic faculty and virtually non-existent teaching aids are among the reasons reiterated in the administrative, social and academic circles. Also unlike in the past, strenuous physical activities, be in agriculture or sports, is no longer the order of the day. Lack of physical activity due to reasons like availability of other sources of entertainment, lack of playing grounds and employment of migrant labour for agriculture, has led to a decrease in stamina and the ability to withstand tough conditions - vital attributes for a soldier. Recalling his tenure as Commandant of the Sikh Regimental Centre, a brigadier says out of about 500 persons who turned up for recruitment under the unit headquarters category, only a handful cleared the physical tests. "There have been instances where candidates have been caught using performance enhancing drugs," says Brig KS Kahlon, former Director Sainik Welfare. Punjab faces a challenge from the rampant abuse of alcohol and narcotics. Recent media reports have pointed out that about 70 per cent of the youth in Punjab is engaged in substance abuse. The State Disaster Management Plan states 73.5 per cent of the youth between 16 and 35 years is affected by drugs. This has resulted in adverse physical and psychological affects, limiting physical and mental performance.
Exclusive regiments
The Infantry, the largest component of the Army, has three regiments that draw
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last word Mulayam Singh Yadav
Not
content with being a patwari (village land record keeper) any longer, Samajwadi Party chief 73-year-old Mulayam Singh Yadav is making no bones about the fact that he is seeking a promotion to a collector.
On Holi day, this is how the SP patriarch explained to folks at his ancestral Sefai village in Etawah the difference of being in charge of a mere state government and of being in power at New Delhi. Underscoring the unequal relationship between the powerless patwari and the invincible collector, ‘Netaji’, as Mulayam is popularly called, pushed his own people to at least ensure a decent number of Lok Sabha seats from the potato belt of Uttar Pradesh so that he could stake his claim to be the collector. Politics is known to be the art of the possible, but this time Netaji is keeping his cards so close to the chest that even those close to him cannot say what his game plan is and what are the options he is considering. The younger lot in the party, who barely a year back had worked hard to bring the party back to power with a landslide majority, are a worried lot, speculating if indeed there is a game plan. The shrewd old patriarch is sending out such cryptic clues that even old-timers are finding it hard to crack. Finger in every pie
For instance, there is much speculation regarding Mulayam’s intent in giving BJP leader LK Advani a positive ‘character certificate’ last week. The statement has already sent out wrong signals to the Muslims, who unflinchingly supported the SP to ensure a never before landslide victory. The very next day, senior-most minister in the state and a founder member of the party, Mohammad Azam Khan, attempted some damage control by slamming Advani on Babri Masjid demolition, a case in which he is an accused. The Muslim face of the party, Khan said Advani’s 1990 Rath Yatra had left behind a trail of bloodshed. The second mystery is the sudden change of Mulayam’s stance regarding Union Minister for Steel Beni Prasad Verma’s offensive statement. There is more than meets the eye in the spat. After Yadav’s strident opposition to caste-based reservation for promotion in Parliament, he was hoping to have consolidated the OBC vote in UP. Throwing a spanner in the works, Verma has effectively played up the historically antagonistic relations between the Yadavs and Kurmis by cutting Mulayam to size. In the process, Beni has projected himself as a Kurmi leader with clout to take on the rising Yadav power. Strangely, after baying for Verma’s blood, Yadav mysteriously decided not to push the matter. The CBI raid at DMK leader MK Stalin’s house in Chennai on the same day as the SP was to decide its stance on Beni perhaps had a sobering effect. Mulayam and his family are facing a CBI probe for disproportionate assets, which is a major consideration with him. While attacking the Congress for keeping the CBI sword of Damocles hanging on allies, he will not withdraw support and yet keep the UPA on tenterhooks by ceaselessly blowing hot and cold. Another instance of confusing signals was when the senior Yadav decided to openly criticise his own party’s government in UP headed by his son Akhilesh Yadav at a public meeting in Lucknow. Netaji told Akhilesh not to be happy when people called him goodhearted and simple. “To run a government you should be stern and firm, not just simple,” he snapped at a visibly shocked Akhilesh. On the condition of anonymity, a senior minister in the state confessed his inability to comprehend why Netaji was openly undermining his son’s authority. “Couldn’t this be done behind closed doors? Why a public dressing down?” he said. Was it a message that he would not be taken for granted, not even by his son? Mulayam is in a tearing hurry as he recognises the government in Uttar Pradesh is rapidly collecting baggage, especially over law and order. He has already put the party in election mode by releasing a list of 70 of the 80 Lok Sabha contestants from UP. Last-ditch effort
Recognising that this may well be his last chance of fulfilling his prime-ministerial ambitions, Mulayam is vociferously advocating a Third Front, which at the moment is more a figment of his imagination. He believes it would miraculously propel him to power in Delhi. Sources say SP leaders are in touch with regional parties such as the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Trinamool Congress and the DMK on the Third Front. But till now there are no signs of any positive response. As a strategy, Yadav is keeping his options open with a foot in both the UPA and NDA camps in the hope that in the coming months he may be seen as a consensus leader of regional parties, which may end up collectively bargaining on which national party to back after the Lok Sabha polls. Observers do not rule out the possibility of Mulayam emerging a compromise prime-ministerial candidate heading a rickety coalition with outside support from either of the two national parties. But the numbers SP manages to conjure in Uttar Pradesh holds the key. Giving out baffling signals, however, may be his undoing. The lesson from the SP’s ill-fated tie-up with Kalyan Singh in 2009 is too recent to be forgotten. If he fails to sell the idea of a Third Front, he may have to contend with being a patwari for some more time.
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Speaking at the national convention of the War Decorated India at Chandigarh this month, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal claimed the state had suffered due to the RMP policy as it restricted Punjab's share since it constituted only about 2.5 per cent of the national population. He urged the Centre to consider abolishing the RMP-based recruitment criteria.
their stock exclusively from Punjab. The Punjab Regiment has 19 battalions and the Sikh Regiment and Sikh Light Infantry 18 each. Troops from Punjab also form a component of the President's Bodyguard, Brigade of The Guards and Mechanised Infantry, which are mixed class outfits, as well as the Rashtriya Rifles (two battalions). The Armoured and Artillery regiments also have a large number of squadrons and batteries comprising troops from Punjab. In the Navy and Air Force, units and establishments are not based on regional or caste identities.
