In May 2023, Army Headquarters recommended—‘directed’ in military terms—that “every soldier proceeding on leave volunteers to choose any subject/domain as per own interest/competency and the felt need of one’s local community and engages citizens, thereby making an individual contribution to the Indian Army’s nation-building effort”.
The letter, issued by the Ceremonials and Welfare Directorate of the Adjutant General’s Branch, elaborates on the ‘nation-building effort’ in terms of social, civic, and patriotic themes. It also specifies the need for the propagation of the plethora of welfare schemes of the Narendra Modi government. The policy was to be implemented with immediate effect.
The Army has a liberal leave policy to compensate for the rigours of service and long separation from families due to field/operational tenures, and limited family accommodation in peace areas. All personnel are entitled to two months of annual leave and casual leave of 30 days (20 days for officers). Leave is considered the sine qua non of welfare, especially when not getting timely leave is one of the causes of suicide among military personnel. On the face of it, the noble intent of the ‘social warrior’ policy cannot be faulted. However, closer scrutiny makes the scheme controversial both in concept and in execution.
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Social warrior scheme
The policy recommends that every soldier on leave “volunteers” for social work. However, the tenor of the letter virtually makes it mandatory The policy highlights that the aim of granting leave to soldiers is to enable them to spend time with their families and address personal commitments. However, the directions in the letter are based on the assumption that despite personal commitments, adequate time is available for social work. Soldiers imbibed with military character, ethos, discipline, and skillset, and with a pan-India footprint can make a meaningful contribution to society and nation-building, particularly in rural areas.
Army Training Command has prepared guidelines and scripts for various social work activities and the central government’s welfare schemes. Units have been tasked to empower and equip the “soldier ambassadors” with structured literature and enabling content for an effective and meaningful soldier-community interface. The scheme would be monitored through a quarterly feedback backed by photographs/videos.
Various social service activities that can be undertaken by the soldiers are listed in the policy letter. The focus is to motivate and mentor the youth, organise sports events, prevent drug abuse, imbibe patriotism, encourage care of the elderly, hygiene, sanitation and assistance for getting work done through the local administration. An important facet of the policy is to make the people aware of the various central government welfare and pension schemes such as National Pension System (NPS), Atal Pension Yojana, Livestock Insurance Scheme, Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana, Deendayal Grameen Kaushalya Yojana, Gram Jyoti Yojana, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan, SAKSHAM Yuva Scheme, Samagra Shiksha, Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan, Ayushman Bharat Yojana, and Jan Aushadhi Kendra.
It is presumed that the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy must have issued similar instructions. Twenty-five per cent of the 1.45 million-personnel-strong military is on leave at any point. To sum it up, the armed forces will have 3.5 lakh “social warriors” engaged in various welfare activities at a time. It would probably be the biggest government-led social service drive ever.
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Beyond the call of duty
The scheme is being imposed on the soldiers, and it is not on a voluntary basis. Otherwise, an advisory would have been adequate rather than directions for formal structured and monitored execution. In military culture, “recommendations” of the higher headquarters are “orders to be obeyed”. Words have been juggled in the letter to make the scheme appear voluntary and ward off protests and court cases. The adage—a soldier is never off duty—has been literally applied. This violation of a soldier’s rights and terms/conditions of service will face legal challenges and is unlikely to withstand the scrutiny of the courts.
A flawed assumption has been made by the Army Headquarters that a soldier has adequate time during his leave for social work. They face prolonged separation from their families due to alternate field and peace tenures of three years. And even in peace stations, family accommodation is available only for 50 per cent of the soldiers. It is not practical to hire civil accommodation. In a large number of cases, the spouses look after the parents and the property and cannot join the soldiers on duty.
What normal citizens do as a routine has to be packed in two to three months of leave by military personnel. Quality time with family, looking after parents, managing property, monitoring children’s education, trips to far-off military ho
spitals, and a host of other obligations — there is much to be done. In rural areas, soldiers also have to assist in farming or other work. How would they find time for social work even if they are committed and inclined? It is unrealistic to expect them to. A satirical piece – “When at ease, soldier, why at attention?” – in The Economic Times sums up the soldier’s travails.
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One more step towards politicisation
Our rural areas are highly politicised. Panchayat elections and even polls for the management of religious places are fought on political lines. Workers of all political parties are actively taking part in all social work and even managing sports initiatives. Any social initiative by the soldiers will put them in a conflict situation with political workers/parties. Some political parties or quasi-political organisations may even exploit them. The hype on social media notwithstanding, the soldier’s standing has diminished both with the government officials and the public. These observations are based on my personal experience of living in a rural area. Under these circumstances, soldiers can do little more than mentorship of the youth.
In our federal structure, administration is a state subject. About 50 per cent of our states are ruled by opposition parties, which are at odds with the central government. Some of the states have not accepted the welfare programmes of the Modi government and promote their own schemes. Structured social work by soldiers, particularly the propagation of central welfare schemes, will be opposed by the state administration putting them in an awkward situation. Politicised police may even initiate cases against them.
While both serving and retired soldiers have been contributing to society on a voluntary basis, it was never formalised for 76 years for good reasons. The armed forces are a constitutional instrument controlled by the central government and any mandated social work initiative that smacks of political intent would be seen as an encroachment on the federal structure.
In all likelihood, this scheme has been initiated based on informal, if not formal directions of the government. Military hierarchy seems to have acquiesced without giving clear advice on the ramifications of the ill-thought scheme. “Deep selection” and “merit-driven” promotions have weakened the will of the top brass to deter political and non-constitutional designs. One wonders as to why the scheme has not been extended to include all central government organisations? Is it that the government has no confidence in them or is it a deliberate attempt to align the military with political ideology and exploit people’s sentiments?
Governments come and go. All ranks of the armed forces on enrolment/commissioning undertake an oath of allegiance to the Constitution and are duty-bound to remain apolitical. The “social warrior” scheme violates the terms and conditions of military service, impinges on domestic commitments and is likely to get soldiers involved in local politics. Soldiers should not become a tool for promoting the policies of the ruling party. The sooner, this scheme is withdrawn the better it would be.
Lt Gen H S Panag PVSM, AVSM (R) served in the Indian Army for 40 years. He was GOC in C Northern Command and Central Command. Post retirement, he was Member of Armed Forces Tribunal. Views are personal.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)