Measures To Attract And Retain Talent In The Indian Army

General

The Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS) organised a one day seminar on “Measures to Attract and Retain Talent in the Indian Army” on Monday, 25 Aug 2008 at CLAWS seminar hall.  The Keynote Address was delivered by Lt Gen Thomas Mathew, PVSM, AVSM, Adjutant General.  The seminar was attended by a large number of serving officers and members of the strategic community.

The seminar was chaired by Lt Gen Vijay Oberoi, PVSM, AVSM, VSM (Retd).  The panelists included Lt Gen KR Rao, AVSM, VSM, DG MP & PS, Lt Gen HS Bagga, PVSM, AVSM (Retd) and Maj Gen Surjit Singh, AVSM, VSM (Retd).

Keynote Address

While delivering the Keynote Address, the AG said that it is now realised by the government that addressing deficiencies in the army is not a problem only of the Army but it is now a national problem and needs to be addressed at the highest level.  A large number of studies have been undertaken in the past to find a solution to this national problem.  There has been some degree if success in the implementation of these studies.  Yet there has been a steady decline in the intake and deficiencies have continued to rise since 2004.  This can be attributed to the opening up of the economy and the resultant lucarative job market for young people in the corporate world.  He said that, Army Headquarters has formulated a three-pronged strategy to address the deficiencies of officers in the lower ranks.  This three-pronged approach consists mainly of in-house measures so that the service becomes more attractive.  The salient points are:

• Have a small core of permanent commissioned officers while having a large support base of short service commissioned officers or SSCOs.  The SSCOs will be  given  an easy exit policy with the option of two years study leave at  government  expense.  They will also be given assured admission to a post graduate college on  release and  also made members of the Ex-servicemen Contributory Health  Scheme (ECHS).
• Make in service intakes such as Special Commission Officers (SCOs) and  Special List Officers (PC SL), more attractive by refining the schemes and also  provide promotions up to the rank of Col for SCOs and Maj Gen for PC SL officers. 
• Improve the 10+2 Entry Scheme by carrying out SSB for students while they are still in class XI, and their medical when they are in class XII.  Thereafter their  graduation will be sponsored by the government and they will join as short service  commissioned officers both for the technical and non-technical streams.  He added  that while there would be non-UPSC enterance exam for technical streams, a  UPSC enterance exam would still be held for non-technical streams. 

At the end of the address, the AG said that while the above measures are under active consideration of the Ministry of Defence, he would welcome suggestions for further measures that need to be taken to improve the large deficiencies in the officer cadre of the Indian Army. 

Panel Discussion

Lt Gen KR Rao, AVSM, VSM, DG MP & PS.  While giving his presentation, the DG MP & PS brought out that despite savvy marketing strategies, the best MNCs today are facing challenges in attracting and retaining top quality talent.  In fact, every Army in the world today is facing a talent crunch and wars in Iraq, Afghanistan have stretched the US, UK and EU armies to breaking point.  To enlist one soldier, the US is contacting 120 young people today.  He also highlighted the evolution of the officer cadre in the Indian Army from the Kings Commission in 1918 to the establishment of the Indian Military Academy in 1932 with 470 Indian officers passing out of IMA in 1939 as against 4000 British officers.  Ever since then, the cadre strength has gone up.  But the officer cadre has been deficient ever since independence as the size of the Indian Army has grown exponentially.  He also highlighted the reasons for continued deficiency even despite large scale public relations campaigns as under:

 The career in the Army has become increasingly unpopular due to the fact  that:

•   The status of Army officers has steadily declined over the years.
•   The Army Officers poor career progression opportunities, which are   coupled with early retirement age.
•   Frequent postings, low emoluments, attractiveness of the corporate   world and an unsettled life coupled with higher risks make the service more   unpopular.
•  An archaic exit policy that gives a feeling akin to being bonded labour has  become a barrier for fresh entries.
•  SSCO entry continues to be unattractive as there are no incentives for those  leaving after completion of their short service commissions.
•  Exponential increase in force levels that has been coupled with large  number of officers seeking pre-mature retirement.

The deficiency in the officer cadre has led to ills such as lower morale and motivation, more burden on JCOs and NCOs who are not trained to lead and hence a decline in the officer-soldier ratio.  This has resulted in lower organisational efficiency. 

 
The DG MP & PS also recommended a three-pronged national approach that needs to undertaken to address the officer deficiency by 2020.  The three prongs which have been identified are:

•  Better pay and perks.
•  Improve intake into training institutions.
•  Carry out in-house measures to make service in the army more attractive by  reviewing policies and refining incentives. 

He brought out a futuristic cadre profile of intake where efforts would be made to popularise both regular intake and improve SSCO, SCO and PC (SL) entries in the Army.  He said that while the intake to NDA would remain the same, it is proposed to reduce the intake of direct entries; ACC and UES from 640 to 110 a year.  At the same time it is proposed to increase all SSCO, SCO, PC (SL) entries from the present 850 per year to 1600 per year.  He further added that since the 10 + 2 Technical Entry Scheme has so far been the most popular hence it is proposed to increase the intake from this entry from 170 a year to 350 a year.

He also added that to make the Short Service Commissioned Officer (SSCO) entry more popular there is a proposal to implement the following :

•  Lumpsum grant of Rs 10/14 lacs on release.
•  Two years professional enhancement leave after eight years of service.
•  Concessions for appearing in Civil Services entrance exams.
•  Lateral absorption in PSUs/CPMFs/CPOs.

All the above proposals have been recommended by the AV Singh Committee as well.  DGMP & PS gave further details of the methodology and refinements that will be carried out once the proposals are agreed to by the Ministry of Defence.
 

Lt Gen HS Bagga

During his presentation Lt Gen HS Bagga stressed that a career in the Army should not be taken as the sole career of one’s life.  An army officer should be allowed to use this career as a stepping stone to move on to civilian life after having acquired the requisite skills to opt for a second career.  He further added that the steepness of the pyramid for higher promotions has had a crippling effect on the attractiveness of the Army.  He drew a comparison between Indian Army and Indian Police Service regarding cadre improvement from 1973 onwards.  He said that while in 1973 the IPS had only one IGP in a state, who was equivalent to a Maj Gen, by 1996 all states had a DGP equivalent to an Army Commander and an additional DGP who is equivalent to a Lt Gen and the number  of  IGPs
is now very high.  He also brought out the disparity with civil services where only 0.43% officers make it to Maj Gen in the army and 21.4% make it to joint secretary in the civil services. He highlighted the major recommendations of the AV Singh committee report:

•  Early promotion of battalion and brigade commanders to maintain a young  profile in command.
•  Time based promotion to rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
•  Time scale Colonel at 26 years of service.
•  Minimum of Brigadier’s pay to all officers in the last year of service.
•  Creation of an additional rank of Colonel General.
•  In service training of officers for second career.
•  VRS to officers overlooked for promotion.
•  Increase In select rank vacancies as under :

        Additional Vacancies 

•  Colonel General         88
•  Lieutenant General    20
•  Major General             75
•  Brigadier                    222
•  Colonel                    1484

But so far only time scale promotions up to the rank of Lt Col and 750 additional vacancies for Colonels have been implemented.

He summarised additional recommendations that need to be implemented:

• There is a need for generating awareness programmes indicating the Army’s  strength at a national level.
• There should be a campaign for image building through National Cadet Corps, Branch Recruiting Organisations and media.
• Intake in Sainik Schools/Military Schools should be improved.
• States should be encouraged to run schools for preparing young people for  Armed Forces.
• Advertisements for the Armed Forces should show the “cost to company” and not merely the salary and allowances.
• The Ministry of Defence must establish a separate cell to manage manpower related issues.
• At the national level, the Army should be considered as a special service  which is controlled by the MoD and not by the Department of Personnel and training  (DoPT).
• Salaries and allowances of Armed Forces should not be governed by a pay commission but by a permanent Pay Review Body that is established only for  the armed forces.

Maj Gen Surjit Singh

Having been associated with the 4th and 5th Central Pay Commissions (CPC), Maj Gen Surjit Singh said that even after a review of the 6th CPC recommendations there are several anomalies.  He highlighted that all scales have been created for civil services and the military has been inserted in as a ‘force fit’.  The creation of the Pay Band 3 and Pay Band 4 is an apparent ploy to divide the officer cadre into two classes.  The other anomalies that were brought out are:

Stipend for officer cadets has not been given while civil service  probationers are paid from the day their training starts.  Even their seniority for  service commences on the same day whereas for officers it starts on the day of  commission which is four years after a cadet joins NDA.

The officer cadre should be in the highest pay band and not two distinct  categories.  However, the civil servants have been able to convince the government  that if a Brigadier gets more pay than a joint secy (if number of years of service is  taken as a criterion of pay) then civil control over the military will be diluted.
 
Army Commander’s salary has been pegged below that of a Director General  of Police for the first time.

He brought out that since only 40% of the arrears are to be admitted in this financial year, detailed instructions should only be issued when all outstanding issues have been fully resolved.  If anomalies can be resolved at a later stage, then anomalies can also be forestalled.  A good pay structure should aim at equity and should not be one that leads to a sense of bitterness or a feeling of inequity.

He also laid stress on some non-pecuniary irritants that are detrimental to firstly attracting and then retaining talent in the Army. These are :-
 

• A benign fear of getting superseded at each rank after the rank of Colonel.
• Retirement ages being early an officer retires at a time when his children are  either at a marriageable age or pursuing higher studies.
• Resettlement avenues are limited and hence detrimental to young  blood  joining the Army.
• Turbulence and separation from family are a common feature.
• The service routine is repetitive and hence lacks growth. This is further stunted by mediocre leadership that snubs initiative.
• To make matters worse, premature retirement applications are rejected on petty grounds amounting to ‘reverse conscription’, making the military a veritable  mouse trap.

He made the following recommendations:-

• Every officer must be imparted at least one skill or specialisation at service expense.
• Industry should be motivated to employ Army officers.
• Lateral movement of officers to Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs)/Central Police Organisations (CPOs)/Central Para Military Forces (CPMFs) must be  implemented as recommended by the 6th CPC.
• One rank one pension which is a long standing anomaly must be resolved at  the earliest.

Discussion

The following aspects emerged during the discussion :

• Most politicians and bureaucrats in other countries undergo basic military  training before they get into government.  Even is India there should a provision for  all IAS officers and those of attired central services to undergo training at NDA/IMA  and serve an attachment of about five years in army units.  This would give them a  better understanding of what the Army is all about when they are in various  ministries and at decision making levels.
• Even if there is disparity in rank structure of the military and civil servants there should be parity of salaries at par with the number of years of service.
• The proposal of carrying out SSB for students of class XI and medical in class XII for those who are selected coupled with a stipend for the entire duration of the students graduation will not be successful.  This is due to the fact that there will  a big gap between the selection and joining and a number of students will fall prey to  the lure of the corporate world in this duration.
• The biggest advertisers for attracting talent in the Army are those who are already in service.  Yet the percentage of sons of Army officers joining the Army is  abysmal.  There is a need for introspection with regard to this.
• A number of self-imposed restrictions such as signing of five year bonds after long courses/UN assignments and three year residual service after study leave  must be done away with.  In any case it is seldom that officers ever get to do  assignments post study leave commensurate with their specialisation.

Conclusion  

The discussion and presentations were well received by all present.  The seminar raised a number of positive suggestions that can be implemented to attract and retain talent in the Army.