Indian Army considering proposal to allow civilians in force for 3 years

“We will benefit by getting younger manpower and the society will benefit by getting people who are disciplined and have imbibed the ethos of the army,” he added.

Officials explained that the proposed model of Tour of Duty (ToD) has been proposed to be implemented on a trial basis for officers and other ranks in the army for a limited number of vacancies. The vacancies would be increased if the model is successful. The proposal is a shift from the concept of permanent service in the  armed forces  towards an “internship” for three years.

Officials said that the cost, including training, pay and allowances, incurred on people joining under the new model would be Rs 80-85 lakhs, as compared to over Rs 6 crore for an officer under the  Short Service Commission , who serve up to 14 years. The army believes that the savings from this can be used in modernisation.Savings will also be in other areas. “With the ToD concept implementation, there is likely to be an exponential reduction in our salary and pension budgets,” an official explained.

Officials also said that the corporates can benefit from individuals who would serve in the army for three years. “Many corporates have indicated that these ToD officers would also be preferable to the present Short Service workforce joining the corporates at the age of 33-34 years… The officers exiting ToD would have an edge over other candidates due to their training and exposure,” an official said.

The army is also examining giving a “token” lum sum amount to officers and jawans exiting from the ToD scheme, to make it more attractive. Benefits of a battle casualty to a ToD personnel could be given if they become one. With this scheme, the army is trying to atract youth from top academic institutes such as IITs.

Sources said age and fitness level will be among the key criteria for recruitment for the ‘Tour of Duty (ToD) or ’Three Years Short Service’ scheme. There is a “resurgence of nationalism and patriotism” in the country and the proposal attempts to tap the feelings of youth who do not want to join the Army as a profession but wish to experience the military life for a temporary duration, a source said.

At present, the Army recruits young people under the Short Service Commission for an initial tenure of 10 years which is extendable up to 14 years.

According to the proposal, the people to be recruited under the ToD will be eligible to be deployed as combatants in key forward locations and there will be no restrictions in their roles.

An officer or soldier after completing one year of training and three years of ToD is likely to display visible improvement in self-confidence, teamwork, responsibility, initiative, stress management, innovation and social skills, according to a military officer quoted by PTI.

“Initial surveys tell us that all corporates would favour an individual who has been trained by the military and comes to them at 26/27 years of age rather than as a raw college graduates at 22/23 years of age,” he said

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