Question by Hridyanshu Chaturvedi: What is “Tour of Duty” scheme in India Army?
Answer: 'Tour of Duty' or 'Three Years Short Service' Scheme in Indian Army might be announced for the fit and young volunteers to serve the Indian army, including its prestigious combat arms for three years.
The young generation, which wishes to experience the military life, but does not want to opt for it as a full-time career option, can benefit from it. With this scheme, the army is trying to attract youth from top academic institutes such as IITs or youth who wish to be entrepreneurs or businessmen but want to serve in the military before settling down in their business. It is a shift from the concept of permanent service in the Armed Forces towards internship/temporary experience for three years.
This scheme is proposed to be implemented on a trial basis for both officers and other ranks in the Indian armed forces. The initial vacancies for officers will be about 100 and 1000 for Jawans and then expanded later if the scheme is found successful.
There will be no relaxation in the selection and training standards.
The selected candidates will be imparted one-year training and three-year service.
Cost to the Govt.: The total cost of training and pay, is about 5.12 crore for an officer who serves for 10-year under Short Service Commission (SSC) but under Tour of Duty the total cost will be 80-85 lakhs (one year training + 3 year service).
In case of Jawan, the saving will be 11.5 crores if he serves for 3 years instead of usual 17 years of minimum. At this rate 11.5 crore will be saved on one soldier. Thus, it will be Rs 11,000 crore for 1000 soldiers. There will also be immense savings due to a reduction in Pay and Gratuity payouts. The saved money could be utilized for the much-needed modernization in the Army.
The proposal is deemed to be equally beneficial for the youth and corporates as they will get trained, disciplined, confident, diligent, and committed young men and women after their stint under Tour of Duty.
In case of any unfortunate eventuality, all the benefits will get extended to the person or the next of kin as is due to a regular officer or Jawan.
Note:
- As of 2019, the deficiency in officer cadre of Indian Army stood at approximately 14 per cent. The Army has 42,253 officers and 11.94 lakh Jawans.
- Under the Short Service Commission, a person can serve in the force for a maximum of 10 years (extendable to 14 years only but pension is not given).