Changing demographics and standards in the Army

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Punjab’s dominance in army being reduced: ISPR​

By Sher Baz Khan


ISLAMABAD, Sept 13: A planned effort is being made to revise the composition of the Pakistan Army by reducing the dominance of Punjab to a considerable level over a period of four years.

In 2001, the Punjabis constituted over 71 per cent of the army. The numerical strength was reduced in later years and has been brought down to just over 57 per cent this year. A further three per cent decrease in recruitment from that province is on the cards by 2011.

The information is part of a booklet titled ‘Information Brief’, published by the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Directorate, the official mouthpiece of the Army, released to counter the growing criticism at home and abroad over the composition of the military and the riches it has accumulated over the years, turning it into the country’s biggest corporate giant.

The booklet has also countered the figures indicating the size of the land being controlled by the army mentioned in Ayesha Siddiqa’s book, ‘Military Inc’.

Within a decade (2001-2011), the composition of Pakhtuns in the army would increase by one per cent to 14.5 per cent.

A two per cent increase will be made in the number of Sindhis bringing their total strength to 17 per cent by 2011.

The representation of Balochis, which was nil in 2001, constitutes 3.2 per cent at present. Their composition would be increased to 4 per cent by 2011.

Similarly, with their zero per cent presence in the army seven years ago, the people from Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas now constitute 9.11 per cent of the army. However, their number would be curtailed to 9 per cent in 2011.

By 2011, it will be ensured that at least one person from the minorities is among hundred personnel of the armed forces. At present they constitute just 0.72 per cent while seven years ago, their presence was just 0.29 per cent in the army.

CORPORATE ACTIVITIES: The booklet has claimed that a total of 833,268 acres was allotted to the armed forces since independence and not over 2.30 million acres as put by Ayesha Siddiqa in her book.

According to the ISPR, the current asset base of Fauji Foundation is over Rs125 billion.

It has provided details of the numerical strength of Bahria and Shaheen foundations and their activities and projects.

The Army Welfare Trust (AWT), with its present worth of Rs108 billion, employs over 11,000 people included retired military personnel and next of kin of Shuhada and those wounded in wars. The trust has 30 big and small projects in the country, including Askari Cement Factory, Nizampur, Army Welfare Sugar Mills, and Badin and Khoski Farm near Badin.

The Frontier Works Organisation (FWO), a segment of army engineers and national construction, employs 12,000 personnel and implemented construction projects of Rs141billion. These include the ongoing 66 projects at an estimated cost of Rs90 billion.

The National Logistic Corporation (NLC), one the leading public sector transportation and construction organisations in the world, has employed 97 army officers, 27 retired army officers and 2,634 junior commissioned officers with a turnover close to Rs6 billion last year.

The ISPR says that a ‘few’ serving officers are also employed in the administration of Defence Housing Authority (DHA), which is expecting Rs150 billion direct investment in its ongoing and planned projects. The authority runs 19 schools and nine colleges. It pays Rs6.5 billion tax to the government every year.

FARMS: According to the ISPR, there are nine military farms with a total area of 25,159 acres. Military farms in Okara and Rensala consist of two dairy factories, seven military farms and 22 villages. The total land involved is 20,156 acres. The booklet has also lauded the development activities of armed forces and its different organisations in Balochistan, Sindh and the federally administered tribal areas (Fata).

Punjab’s dominance in army being reduced: ISPR -DAWN - Top Stories; September 14, 2007

Hmmm... steps towards silencing the indignant trumpets blaring "Punjabi Domination"....

 

[Awesome]

Well ultimately you have to divide it according to population strengths in the provinces themselves.

Or remove allocations and just do selections based on merit?

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Well ultimately you have to divide it according to population strengths in the provinces themselves.

Or remove allocations and just do selections based on merit?

Perhaps a hybrid system? Keep your "requirements and qualifications" intact, but try and increase recruitment from areas that are underrepresented. Once within the army, strictly follow merit, and perhaps resort to "ethnic balancing" when the choice is between equally qualified candidates - it doesnot always have to be a "fixed" ratio, but as long as you are able to keep it in the ball park. So you still follow a merit system in a way.

 

[Tiki Tam Tam]

It is feasible.

The Indian Army had changed the system long ago wherein all States got their representation without lowering the recruitment standards.

 

[Energon]

It is feasible.

The Indian Army had changed the system long ago wherein all States got their representation without lowering the recruitment standards.

I don't think it is that simple. And in all honesty IMO it's actually counterproductive to follow someone else's example in such cases.

The biggest factor for Pakistan is not population statistics (X community should have Y representatives in the military), but rather social development.
In India for instance, social development is far more related to finances than anything else. Let's consider some anecdotal observations for a bit... Jawans of the Indian army come from lower income families while most officers come from middle class families. For the most part the social development factor of these families is independent of which state or which community these families belong to. Hence, sub cultural differences withstanding, a Jawan coming from Bihar is on equal footing with his fellow recruits from Madhyapradesh, Punjab or Maharashtra; the same goes for the officers.

Unfortunately this is not the case in Pakistan. The social development is not only related to financial standing, but also regional and communal identity. Hence potential infantrymen/jawan recruits from the Balochistan and Waziristan pronvinces are most probably not on equal footing with their Punjabi counterparts, and this may create problems for the general functionality of an institution like the military which thrives on rank based equity.

This is why I think the PA should first invest in social structure (schools especially) in the tribal provinces first to generate pools of potential candidates who can more easily merge with their Punjabi colleagues. If this is not done, the outfall from having an unequally distributed and communally fractionalized army could be disasterous.

 

[fatman17]

it also has to do with "tradition". all punjabis dont join the PA. the PA "bread-basket" for recruitment was/is the potohar areas, then the pushtuns from the settled areas from NWFP (but not all tribes/clans). there was / is hardly any recruitment from Balochistan / Sindh (for reasons i cannot write - will be considered racist).
this all changed during the mid-70s when the PA was to be transformed into a "National" army. the recruitment standards were reduced (huge mistake in my opinion), for eg: for officers 2nd div (60&#37 was a must. this has been reduced to 40% marks. even in the PAF for GDP pilots the marks required were 60%, but now is 45%. this has has a big impact on the quality of officers joining the PA, PAF and PN.
so yes i am for equal opportunity for all pak nationals but merit must not be compromised.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

this all changed during the mid-70s when the PA was to be transformed into a "National" army. the recruitment standards were reduced (huge mistake in my opinion), for eg: for officers 2nd div (60%) was a must. this has been reduced to 40% marks. even in the PAF for GDP pilots the marks required were 60%, but now is 45%. this has has a big impact on the quality of officers joining the PA, PAF and PN.
so yes i am for equal opportunity for all pak nationals but merit must not be compromised.

All I can say is WOW!

That is a huge drop.

Surely this needs to be rectified, by increasing standards slowly, now that Pakistan is progressing at a faster clip.

 

[blain2]

The recruitment standards were dropped for a few reasons. Post 1971, the recruitment in general was impacted. In addition due to the backgrounds of people and lack of educational opportunities, it just was not going to scale to keep the marks etc. the same as before.

Secondly, during the 70s, the exodus to the Middle East started from many of the areas that were considered to be part of the "Army Belt".

Lastly, at least for the officer Corps, other opportunities came up that provided alternates to children from good, military and non-military families to look beyond serving in the Armed Forces. This continues to this day. So the Armed Forces get their sprinkling of good talent while many other potentially excellent officers and men go abroad or into other things.

Also the theory behind "Martial races" is bogus. There is no truth behind this claim.

 

[fatman17]

blain2 - say what u may but one thing is clear - the standard of officers in the armed forces in the 60s/70s is much higher than the officer cadre of today. reality is reality. one cannot ignore it.
i agree with what u say - opportunities post 71 for the middle class existed other than joining the armed forces - i was selected during this time (52 PMA) and was surprised at (ISSB in kohat) the people who were being selected.
please dont get me wrong but the GoPak has compromised the standards.

 

[Energon]

Why did the standards drop after 1971? From what I understand the core of the army always came from Punjab and not East Pakistan.

 

[fatman17]

Why did the standards drop after 1971? From what I understand the core of the army always came from Punjab and not East Pakistan.

has nothing to do with E-PAK.!

 

[Energon]

has nothing to do with E-PAK.!

Then what are the plausible reasons for the quality of the military dropping at the time? If anything the monetary resources for military programs through the 80s under Zia's arrangement with the Regan era US went up exponentially. So then why did the quality of the army diminish?

 

[fatman17]

Then what are the plausible reasons for the quality of the military dropping at the time? If anything the monetary resources for military programs through the 80s under Zia's arrangement with the Regan era US went up exponentially. So then why did the quality of the army diminish?

this is the whole point - we lowered the qualification standards - merit was abandoned - we abandoned with the traditions of the army built over the last 100 years - officers who had joined before these changes started getting frustrated and took early retirements - its effects the quality!

 

[Tiki Tam Tam]

I don't think it is that simple. And in all honesty IMO it's actually counterproductive to follow someone else's example in such cases.

The biggest factor for Pakistan is not population statistics (X community should have Y representatives in the military), but rather social development.
In India for instance, social development is far more related to finances than anything else. Let's consider some anecdotal observations for a bit... Jawans of the Indian army come from lower income families while most officers come from middle class families. For the most part the social development factor of these families is independent of which state or which community these families belong to. Hence, sub cultural differences withstanding, a Jawan coming from Bihar is on equal footing with his fellow recruits from Madhyapradesh, Punjab or Maharashtra; the same goes for the officers.

Unfortunately this is not the case in Pakistan. The social development is not only related to financial standing, but also regional and communal identity. Hence potential infantrymen/jawan recruits from the Balochistan and Waziristan pronvinces are most probably not on equal footing with their Punjabi counterparts, and this may create problems for the general functionality of an institution like the military which thrives on rank based equity.

This is why I think the PA should first invest in social structure (schools especially) in the tribal provinces first to generate pools of potential candidates who can more easily merge with their Punjabi colleagues. If this is not done, the outfall from having an unequally distributed and communally fractionalized army could be disasterous.

In India, the all state representation quota is in place, but it does not mean that the standards are being given short shrift, just to meet the quotas!

With better opportunities and heftier pay available in the Corporate world, one wonders if the middle class is joining in the officer class! Of course, there are still officers from the middle class, but then I would not say it is of the same genre as before.

In so far as troops are concerned, the 'rustic' and 'physically and mentally tough, rough and tumble' jawan of yesteryears has become folk lore. With the spread of education and mechanisation of farm holdings, one would not be surprised to find graduates amongst the Personnel Below the Officer Rank (PBOR). With education, the yen to be physically tough seems to wane, except to be muscle bound with gym toned bodies popularised by the chunky filmstar of Bombay. Educated chaps are the need of the hour with the advent of modern weaponry and techniques, but an over educated chap may not be a tough chap, mentally or physically.

It is a contradiction of modern society and one cannot help it.

Hence, the standards do seem to be declining.

As a word of interest, this standard is declining does not mean that the qualifications are being lowered, at least for the Indian Army. It merely means that while in the olden days on a scale of 10 of qualification criteria, the recruitment got people of the scale of 8, now it has declined to 5, but still within the standards laid down! Hence, the notional decline!

 

[fatman17]

as far as the jawans go, he will be as good as his officer is. the officer / regiment is his "mother and father".