This is the recording of a talk I gave on China's Civil Military Fusion on 16 Jan 22 as part of the Institutional Dialogue at Chennai Centre for China Studies. The Q&A session of the talk was very interesting and thought provoking. The talk is based on an Article I had written earlier @ Civil Military Fusion an Indian Necessity . This talk also puts in perspective the gap between China and India in terms of Defence development, production, acquisitions and management. My article The Army Needs a Serious Rethink is specifically contextual in this environment. Strictly speaking, the larger national security and defence establishment needs a serious rethink.
As per reports the government is set to finalise the ‘Agnipath’ nee ‘Tour of Duty’ recruitment scheme, under which youth can enlist in the Army for three /five years and be known as ‘Agnivirs’. It is being envisaged that 25% of them would serve for three years and 25% for five years, the remaining 50% would serve for the full term till they reach the retirement age. This major reform is expected to significantly reduce the age profile of the Armed forces. This reform will also result in significant reduction of pensions. It will curb the ballooning salary and pension bills that are adversely impacting military modernization. Under this arrangement, after completing 3 or 5 years of service, the Army will help the soldier/officer to be recruited in other services. The soldiers would be given a pay-out along with priority in recruitment to certain government jobs, including the central armed police forces. An effort is also on to nudge corporate India into hiring such ...
Well spoken
ReplyDelete