heyn 31 October, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court declined to entertain a PIL which had sought abolition of the ‘subsidiary system’ in the Indian Army. In 2009, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defense termed the practice of appointing ‘assistants’ as shameful, which should have no place in independent India, and recommended its abolition. The committee said it expects the Defense Ministry to stop the practice and expects the Home Ministry to take similar action with respect to paramilitary and other organisations.
But the MoD, in its Action Taken Report, defended the use of assistants and said that comprehensive instructions have been issued to regulate their work. The committee argued that it did not understand the need for assistants in the Army when the Navy and the Air Force did not have such an exercise. It reiterated its earlier recommendation and asked the Army to emulate its counterparts in the Navy and Air Force and to stop the colonial exercise immediately.
Letting go of irrelevant colonial legacies has been one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s favorite tips for government functionaries in general. In particular, it is often a point in his address at the annual Joint Commanders’ Conferences of the Armed Forces. The Supreme Court upheld the government’s stance on subsidiaries rather than parliamentary committees, finding this colonial legacy to be legally closed. But this does not mean that there are no organizationally and socially derived tailwinds to replace certain military practices that must be monitored and controlled.
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Integration and Agniveer
The origin of misconduct in the support system is related to the misuse of personnel for domestic purposes. It is a matter of command responsibility at all levels. There is also the case of authorizing certain domestic workers for superiors and their spouses in certain circumstances, considering the security aspects and official commitments of the serving people. But enforcement of this practice can be untenable if it is not based on individual precedents set by senior leadership.
The chickens of this issue will come home once Integrated Theater Commands are in place and three services in a single establishment or working together. The various parameters of the benefits of the availability of assistants on the military will be questioned, which may force change despite resistance from those who wish to defend the status quo.
The parliamentary committee had also emphasized that jawans are recruited for the service of the country and not the family members of officers in domestic work, which is degrading and degrading. The introduction of the Agniveer system with its four-year service life could provide a second tailwind for the change in the use of auxiliaries.
Since assistant officers and junior commissioned officers are authorized, although at different scales, their number in a unit is not less. Also, the combination of personal aspirations and aversion to household chores among the new generation of recruits will offer resistance that will be difficult to handle unless one sticks to the rule book. The rules clearly state that assistants shall be used only for duties connected with and relevant to the assistance required in the discharge of official duties, including providing personal protection, maintenance of weapons, uniforms, equipment and carrying out various operational duties during peace time. Help is included. and war.
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Government structure also needs to be reformed
The days of the use of assistants for domestic purposes in the armed forces certainly seem few. But this may not happen in larger national and state-level government structures. The practice of using government employees by certain levels of officials is widespread and unregulated. The Parliamentary Committee specifically mentioned the Ministry of Home Affairs and its organisations.
Withholding of government employees for household chores should become a major area of improvement requiring immediate implementation. Because, there may be more ‘Bada Sahab’ who warm the chairs of government departments at the central and state level. The misuse and misdirection of human capital are the heels of the Indian social and bureaucratic system. Without reforms in this area, India cannot hope to realize its true human potential.
Soon, India will be the most populous country in the world and its progress will require abandonment of avoidable social practices. That is why it is disappointing that the Modi government has Approved Post-retirement and lifelong domestic support staff for retired Supreme Court judges. A move that is completely counterproductive towards moving the issues forward in the 75th year of the country’s independence.
Personal example is sought to be set by the leadership at all levels to overcome avoidable practices in the use of government employees. Basically, it is about abuse of power and in these cases one’s conscience should be the primary restraining force. Sadly, the love of power seems to be overtaking the power of love for the nation.
Lt Gen (Dr) Prakash Menon (Retd) Director, Strategic Studies Programme, Taxila Institute; Former Military Adviser, National Security Council Secretariat. He tweeted @prakashmenon51. Thoughts are personal.
(edited by Prashant)