Army itself has to solve officer, jawan face-offs: Raju

 Against the backdrop of recent face-offs between jawans and army officers, Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju today said it was a major "in-house" issue in military which needs to be tackled by its leadership.

"The relationship between officers and other ranks should adjust to change in socio-economic scenario in the country. The growing levels of education and increased awareness of the enlisted man calls for dynamic leadership and man management.

"This is a major in-house issue of the military that has to be tackled. Nothing can be accomplished by the military if in any role the leadership is weak," Raju said delivering the Field Marshal K M Kariappa Memorial Lecture here.

In recent times, there have been three cases of face-offs between officers and jawans including one in Nyoma (J&K) in May and the other one took place in an armoured unit deployed in Samba sector (J&K) in August.

Raju later told reporters that officers "have to be more sensitive and more guiding" in handling their personnel.

The minister, while dwelling on issue of civil-military relations in his speech, said, "problems of civil-military relations have and still exist in the country."

"This calls for a mature military leadership to ensure these matters do not prove detrimental to bigger cause. The civilian leadership should realise the need to leverage and integrate rich experience of military leadership in nation's management, governance and diplomacy," he said, stressing on the need to "iron out" the difference through greater integration.

On the role of military in India, Raju said armed forces have remained apolitical and this has helped in strengthening democracy in the country. "The military forces have remained loyal to the elected government and have been its obedient servant," Raju said.