THE JAWAN: New recruiting practices and social changes are creating a new national army.In 1947, nearly 90 per cent of the Indian Army was from North-Western India, almost all from the rural areas. Partition and political democracy opened up the army to Backward Castes in the '60s.Now, urbanisation, a conscious policy of "nationalising" the army and education are changing the face of the Indian soldiery. Though a quarter of the country is now urban, currently some 15 per cent of the armed personnel come from such areas, up from 11 per cent in 1965. Employment opportunity, prestige and an upward social mobility form the mix of motives that persuade most jawans to join the 11 lakh-strong Indian Army. Lance Naik Ishaq Khan is a typical soldier who says that neither tradition nor a martial bent made him join the army, but the need for regular employment and the prestige associated with soldiering in his village, Bhainsrawat, in Rajasthan's Alwar district. Like all soldiers who join up today, he has studied till Class X. There are others like Naik Subhash Yadav, a Haryana villager with an MA and BEd, who has joined the army because of the prestige attached to it. Yadav is hoping to become an officer through the Army Cadet Corps.The imprint of colonialism is still visible in the army's social and demographic face. The northern region's contribution to the army's strength is now dipping below 50 per cent. Since the Great Mutiny of 1857, recruitment was from castes and ethnic groups that were loyal to the British - Punjabis, people in Uttar Pradesh and the Himachal hills and the doughty Gorkhas. .preferred-source-banner{ margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}Because of this, army units even today are of three types. The fixed class battalions consisting of soldiers of one caste or ethnic group (Gorkhas, Sikh Regiment, the Sikh Light Infantry), the mixed class (Kumaon and Assam Regiments). The Armoured Corps, Mechanised Infantry and the technical arms are "all-India, all-class". Till as late as 1965-66, 31 per cent of those recruited came from Punjab and 18 per cent from Uttar Pradesh, mainly from its mountain areas. Since 1984, the army has based its recruitment on a calculation of the "recruitable male population" (RMP), determined from the proportion of males between the ages of 17 and 25 in the population of a particular state.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Apr 13, 1998--- ENDS ---
