By Col Vijay Manral (Retd)
Uttarakhand has a large population of serving and ex-servicemen, largely due to the two Infantry Regiments the Kumaon Regiment and the Garhwal Rifles. There are roughly 1,39,000 ex-servicemen in in Uttarakhand today and this number will keep growing. The State has one of the highest ratios of serving personnel vis-a-vis male population in the country. These ex-servicemen are a force multiplier especially in a small state like Uttarakhand. The State Government can evolve certain polices to encourage the ex-servicemen in their native villages and districts. Serving persons retire at a fairly young age from 35 to 45 years depending on the ranks. This set of highly trained professionals in various fields are state assets and their services must be utilised by the state. These persons suitably and gainfully employed within their native districts would check migration and simultaneously ensure reverse migration. Employing a young ex-serviceman for 10 years or so would benefit the individual as well as the state. A second innings for him to earn and settle his children while the state gains from his experience.
It has been said that the best way to honour an ex-serviceman is to employ one. There are many compelling reasons to employ them but yet they remain an underemployed pool of a talented set of individuals. Advantages that one gets by employing ex-servicemen as a trained workforce are :-
(a) Disciplined, trained and skilled manpower available.
(b) Leadership skills acquired over the years in the Armed Forces.
(c) Dedication and commitment to community work as most come from a rural background.
(d) Competence to operate in adverse situations.
(e) The ex-servicemen possess a large variety of experience and background in various disciplines. Nursing Assistants of Army Medical Corps have worked in clinics, Pathology Labs, X-ray department, etc. This set of individuals who are highly trained and specialists can be suitably employed at PHCs / CHCs and District Hospitals in their home districts. This will also help in improving health infrastructure in remote areas. Ex-servicemen from the Engineers, EME and Signals can be employed in ITIs and Polytechnic Institutes as trainers or staff. They can also be employed for assisting the SDRF in disaster management in far flung remote areas thus reducing response time. Likewise, the State police would benefit from ex-servicemen trained in counter terrorist operations, weapon handling and disaster management.
(f) A veteran brings along with him various factors, primarily honesty, integrity, discipline, loyalty, sense of belonging and lastly domain specialisation, an entire package by itself. The potential has largely remained untapped in utilising this large pool of trained and disciplined ex-servicemen.
Rural development has received recognition in nation building activity in the country. The Armed Forces are an organisation that has proved time and again their total dedication towards the national interests as well as executed their assigned tasks with great efficiency. Young men and now women (in future) who essentially are from a rural background retire from the Armed Forces every month / year and most return to their villages. This trained and disciplined manpower which spans a large variety of disciplines is a major loss as it is not nursed and utilised /exploited in the overall development of the State. We need to create and establish a state level workforce from this particular set of people to assist in rural development as a disciplined and well-trained force is readily available to the state. Optimal utilisation of this manpower where most ESM are in the age group of 35-45 years can yield multiple benefits especially assist in mitigating ‘Pahad se Palayan’.
This can be exploited by the state, of course, a healthy balance and ratio needs to be catered vis-à-vis provision of employment opportunities for the unemployed youth. From the present 5% reservation for ex-servicemen in the Govt, 10-12% reservation in State Govt jobs would benefit both the ex-servicemen and the state. Alternately, a 10 year contractual / attractive package in terms of employment could be worked out. Terms and conditions for employment can be made accordingly.
Selection of Individuals- The selection procedure can be conducted by the Rajya Sainik Board or UPNL, short training capsule to be conducted under aegis of respective departments who will employ them and post training the persons be given responsibilities as per task / qualification and rank in Army.
Referring to migration from the hills, one old veteran once told me, “Maato maato sab bagi gayo … Dhungo dhungo rahi gayo” – all the mud has been washed away only the stones remain. He also added Haldwani and Dehradun will have Uttarakhandis residing while Pauri and Almora districts will have large number of non-Uttarakhandis in a major population shift. If we keep the villages alive and vibrant in our state, we will keep the state alive and vibrant as well, and also keep the agriculture alive. The State Government has introduced a large number of excellent and attractive schemes in the rural areas, it will also augur well for the ex-servicemen to come forward and benefit from these schemes. They can continue to serve honourably and contribute towards betterment and development of the community.
(Col Vijay Manral is retired and settled in Haldwani. With a military career spanning 34 years in India and abroad, he now looks forward to contributing towards ecological conservation and ‘Utkarsh Uttarakhand’.)
