First 5 yrs of service with the Indian Army mandatory for government jobs, recommends Parliamentary Standing Committee

New Delhi: Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence has recommended mandatory service of five years in the Indian army as eligibility for a government job. This will end the shortfall of soldiers in the armed forces. The committee feels confident that this will also fill the officers’ posts that remain vacant in the armed forces. The committee has advised that ‘The Department of Personnel and Training’ (DoPT) should prepare a proposal for this.

There are thousands of vacant posts in the armed forces. The security forces are also facing a shortage of soldiers. The Parliamentary Standing Committee is of the opinion that a five-year service with the armed forces should be made compulsory for the candidates intending to apply for any government job. The Standing Committee has reportedly sent the recommendation to the government.

If this recommendation is accepted, the persons intending to take up a government job will first have to serve in the Indian Army for five years. This will help fill-up the vacant posts in the armed forces. The government will also receive disciplined and committed employees in the future, claims the committee. This condition should be made applicable for Central as well as State government jobs, said the committee in its recommendations.

The government has millions of posts in its many departments. There are 1.4 million employees in the Indian Railways alone. Similarly, the number of employees in the 25-state government services is about 20 million. The committee has submitted its report to the defence ministry. Nevertheless, the Parliamentary Committee has said that the DoPT which is directly under the Prime Minister’s control should look into the matter and prepare a report.