Tour of Duty
The Army headquarters is considering two different models for recruitment in the future — one under which youth can voluntarily serve in the Army for a temporary period of three years, and the other where they are recruited by Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), trained and posted in the Army for about seven years, before being transferred back. ThePrint has learnt that the recruitment models are being considered to attract more youth to join the Army, fill up officers’ vacancies, and reduce burgeoning defence pensions, which make up nearly 30 per cent of the defence budget and ballooned after the ‘One Rank One Pension’ (OROP) scheme came into effect. The first model, of three years’ service, is called ‘Tour of Duty’, while the other is called ‘Inverse Induction’. The latter model is based on a 2019 discussion document by the think-tank Takshashila Institution, authored by Lt Gen. Prakash Menon (retd), a former military advisor to the National Security Advisor, and Pranay Kotasthane.