I am no fan of conscription. However I cannot deny the benefits of compulsory military service have on the society.
1. Literacy: Modern army relies on tactical superiority more than numbers. Hence in order to make any productive use of any recruit, a lot of time, energy and efforts have to be spent to educate and train them. A boom in disguise for the country whose 1/3 of the population still cannot read/write.
2. Discipline: Every army takes great pride in the discipline it creates. Countries like Israel, Singapore, South Korea enforce this training in the late teens/early twenties. This is the time when the maturity kicks in and army creates the best environment to control it and channelize it for the good of the society. This makes them more dedicated, better in organizing themselves, following order without creating chaos even under little/no supervision.
3. Vocational training: Indian educational system (esp. college) is often criticized for draining the prime years of a youth’s life without imparting much which will make him/her employable. Armed forces on the other hand teaches you skills to operate/maintain machinery/electronics and encourage troops making modifications to make them better.
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7 replies on “Why India should make Conscription mandatory”
I kind of concur with you..
It will help get rid of “Chalta hai” attitude and bring more discipline in people.
However I don’t think it will be easy to implement it..
Yes, but people should not be allowed to *buy* their way out of this
discipline is great but is military conscription the way to go about it?
It takes away two years of your life when you are at your brightest, it does not mean that you are not going to go to college you still have to do those 4 years.
In addition, something that i noticed in Singapore, military people tend to be process driven and ‘yes men’ to their superiors.
that is because its grilled into you that you must follow the orders of your superiors. It kills creativity.
@shiv and khalil…
thanks for dropping by.
@sandip…
israel has one of the most rigid compulsary milittary service (where even women have to serve active duty).. and yet it is the innovation capital of the world with most entrepreneurs in the world (adjusted to population size)hard to believe that these people lack creativity.
btw it was u who argues a few years ago that war/threat of war is what drives innovation. that is why the world wars and cold wars were the golden era for science and innovation.
It is true that the military should be subservient to the civilian power. But that civilian power should NOT be the babus but the elected politicians. However the problem is that our netas are uncomfortable and even ignorant of defence matters and hence they rope in the bureaucracy, which is sometimes upto mischief. Even Margaret Thatcher had more defence experience than Anthony.
However the larger question appears to have been missed. One way we can all help the armed forces is by not sending our children to join them so that an even larger shortage will force the government to wake up. And if the government talks about conscription – great – start with Rahul Gandhi, Milind Deora, Sachin Pilot etc. What about bollywood heroes who like to wear the uniform and give desh bhakth bashans? let them also spend three years in Mizoram, Kashmir and Rajasthan without lights, cameras and heroines and they will know what ‘action’ means.
How about making Short Service Commission compulsory for all elected offices and UPSC exams, like Singapore? How about making it compulsory for all government servants, who are fit, to join the Territorial Army with additional seniority to those who do this service?
The problem in this country is that the establishment mafia and the owners of the factors of production, want their wealth to be guarded as cheaply as possible with the lives of other people’s children. Did Dhirubhai Ambani ever think of sending even one of his sons for a short service commission?
I,like many other Singaporean,are strongly against conscription in Singapore.
It is unnecessary to have to years of compulsory military service when technology is so advance now.Singaporean males should be allowed to contribute to the country economically and not forced into military slavery as it is not breeding patriots but dissidents.
We are not losing in terms of further education and work experience to only girls but also foreign talents who get to enjoy the fruit of our economical success without contributing to the country.Many companies and employers in Singapore have preference with foreigner instead of their own countrymen because of their reservist liabilities ,which explains why so many Singaporean males choose to renounce their Singapore citizenship after they have completed their two years of national slavery.
Conscription and reservist in Singapore should be shortened,if not,abolished.
You can’t believe how many NS-men(those who are in the army ready for war) would drops their gun and abandon the country in times of crisis.Conscription is modernized slavery and it will not benefit the country when the citizen feel that they cannot practice even basic human right.
*to not only girls -mistakes from my previous post.
Also,Singapore do lose to others in terms of creativity and innovation like what the other guy said. Many of the NS-men that have completed their military service have said that during their military training,they are constantly being brainwashed by country’s propaganda till the extent that they can hardly do even simple math when they are out, let alone thinking creatively.
It is not the national service that is the problem.It’s the conscription and brainwashing.