Though the Indian Army has not fought a full-blown war since 1971, it is bogged down in fighting insurgencies, guarding restive borders and often quelling civilian riots. Unrest created by our worthy politicians is pushed into the lap of the Army like the recent Gujjar agitation in Rajasthan. Armed forces must come to the aid of a corrupt and inefficient civil administration.

Suicides along with fratricides tell their own tragic tale about the working of the Army. The Indian Army had lost 72 soldiers to enemy attacks so far this year. But over 100 soldiers have already taken their lives. In addition, another 32 have been killed by their colleagues. Also 408 soldiers have taken their lives, killed colleagues or died after colleagues ran amok since 2004 and 333 of these personnel killed themselves.

The Army claims to be strengthening formal and informal interaction between soldiers and officers. Leave policy, especially for soldiers posted in difficult areas, has been liberalised so that a soldier can go home to sort out his domestic problems.

And, there are little facilities for personnel posted in different areas. Worse are housing shortage and schools for children. And when officers and jawans sit back and compare their ever thinning pay packets, they feel the real pinch.

Successive pay commissions have made service in the armed forces so unattractive that there continues to be a deficiency of over 35,000 officers and men in the military. Between 2001 and 2004, more than 2,000 officers have applied for release from the Army. These included two lieutenant generals, 10 major generals and 84 brigadiers. With better prospects in the private sector, more than a thousand scientists have resigned from the Defence Research and Development Organisation over the last five years.

Unhappy with the poor compensation and lack of understanding shown by the succeeding pay commissions, the three Services have for the first time come together to demand their due. Currently the Sixth Pay Commission is engaged in revising the pay and allowances of Central government employees, including armed forces personnel. The Services are seeking a five-fold increase over their existing salaries to attract recruits and to check the growing exodus of officers.

There is an acute paucity of officers for all three Service namely the Army, Air Force, and Navy. Figures presented in Parliament in April this year show, as many as 14,165 posts of officers and 20,432 posts of personnel below officer rank are vacant in the armed forces. The number of vacant posts of officers in the Navy and Air Force is 1,399 and 1,528, respectively. Similarly, in the case of other ranks, 3,665 and 16,767 posts are vacant in the Navy and Air Force, respectively but not in case of the Army.

Job-wise educated young men would prefer professions outside the armed forces, where offers are quite lucrative. Despite life being hard and dangerous for the armed forces, the unfair and blinkered attitude of the Indian government and its defence establishment in pay scales, working facilities like housing, and schooling of their wards, postings and promotions has reduced the attraction of the armed forces.