NEW DELHI: Facing flak for multiple quarters of colonial era practice of having Sahayaks, the Indian army is working on a proposal to hire 29, 000 civilians, who will be replacing combat soldiers, working for menial household task for officer’s. New hiring is an attempt to do away with the Sahayaks in peace postings, which means only officers serving in field area will be entitled to have Sahayaks or Buddy at their disposal.
In this matter, the Army’s Adjutant General Directorate has proposed to the ministry of defence to allowing army to make fresh recruitment of civilians. Besides appointing civilian for household work, the government is also working on proposal to reserve 15 per cent reservations in government jobs for war widows.
Recently, several jawans from Army and para-military forces have come out in public by posting their grievance on social media against ill treatment of combatants by officers, forcing them to do petty jobs. Lance Naik Yagya Pratap Singh posted a video complaining about the Sahayak system.
Government, while calling the Sahayak or Buddy system in the army by saying it promotes spirit de corps, has also issued “exhaustive” instructions to ensure that the ‘sahayaks’ are not made to do menial tasks as they are combatant soldiers, the government clarified on any misuse of system.
The issue of ‘sahayak’ system, a legacy of colonial British regime, has cropped up from time to time with even a Parliamentary panel slamming the government for not doing away with it. At present there are more than 30,000 ‘sahayaks.’ The Navy and IAF do not have ‘sahayaks.’
‘The rapport between officers and the buddies has led to enhancement of the spirit-de-corps in a unit, which is vital during war and peace. As such, this is not expected to have any adverse impact on their morale,”junior minister for defence Subhash Bhamre has last week informed the Parliament.
Minister said ‘sahayaks’ are combatant soldiers and provide support to officers and Junior Commissioned Officers(JCO) when serving with units or Headquarters functioning. Thus, there is no separate category of ‘sahayaks,’ he said.
A ‘sahayak’ has clearly defined military duties and forms an integral part of the organisation structure of a unit and has specific functions during war and peace. In addition to their duties as soldier, they provide the essential support to authorized officers and JCOs, both in peace and war to enable them to fully attend to their assigned duties. The buddy also provides an alternate contact with the troops, whereby the officer is made aware of grass root issues, albeit through informal means, the minister said.
However, “exhaustive” instructions were issued from time to time stressing upon the need to ensure that ‘sahayaks’ are not made to do menial tasks, being combatant soldiers, which are not in conformity with the dignity and self-respect of a soldier, he said.
Even the army Chief General Bipin Rawat in January announced setting up of a post box at the Army Headquarters here and in all the command centres. The aggrieved soldier can write directly to the Army Chief about his problems and Rawat assured the personnel that the senior leadership will never let down their juniors.
However, he cautioned that those soldiers taking to social media may face disciplinary action and said social media can act as a “double edged” weapon wherein it may be beneficial but also can prove to be detrimental.