EDITOR'S NOTE
An article by Col Alok Asthana titled : "Vastly different selection systems for service officers and civil servants are degrading the military"
was published on 23 July 2024 by The Salute .
The article, when circulated widely on social media , drew curiosity of armed forces fraternity and raised eyebrows of bureaucrats who read it !
Since the article was technical in nature, only knowledgeable and experienced selectors of armed forces were competent to analyse and comment on its contents and recommendations.
Mission Victory India ( MVI ) circulated this piece widely amongst various veteran groups on social media and invited responses to the points raised and recommendations made by Col Alok Asthana .
An article received from Brig Vidur R Nevrekar ,a former President of SSB is being published to give the readers a rare insight of our present SSB officer selection system and the author's critical and analytical responses to the article by Col Asthana.
The readers are welcome to send their responses to continue this debate.
Col Vinay Dalvi,
Editor ,MVI
This refers to the article by Colonel Alok Asthana (Retired) titled as
above. I appreciate the efforts of the author to analyse the desired
quality profiles for the Civil Servants and the Services Officers, the
current selection systems and the changes required in his perspective
for both the categories. I, however, have a slightly different view on
different aspects, which I have penned below.
The comparison between Civil Servants and Services Officers as also
the need for something like the Services Selection Board (SSB) to be
applicable to the Civil Servants appears logical from the point of view of
a Services Officer. However, such a scheme is unlikely to be accepted
by the bureaucracy for reasons to do with systemic differences between
the two organizations.
For the purpose of my argument, the primary difference between
Services Officers and Bureaucrats is that Bureaucrats decide their own
selection and employment system. This includes aspects of their
employability, their pay and allowances, their service rules and
regulations, and procedures essential to all aspects of performance of
their duty. The ministry or the government is merely a rubber stamp to
their decisions. In contrast, for Services Officers, most of the
employment-based aspects are administered by the authorities other
than the Services.
Considering that, it can be safely assumed that the Civil Servants will
avoid applying a similar system as the SSB (so as to not dig a grave in
the selection process for their children). Further, the Defence Institute of
Psychological Research (DIPR), or Ministry of Defence (MoD), will also
never tweak the current system of selection. They will never want to risk
owning up to their consequent failure, if any, due to the systems of
selection.
The author also suggests that the SSB needs to be made easier or
abolished for the officers below certain ranks. From my experience and
perception, I feel that there is a folly in this reasoning. A lot of work was
done towards implementing a new system of selection, named Denovo,
to replace the current procedure of SSB, aiming to reduce the selection
process from 5 days to 3 days by introducing certain changes. However,
the futility of Denovo was understood after spending years of
brainstorming by the DIPR and the community of assessors at SSB. This
system has finally, rightly so, been shelved.
It is strange to note the opinion of the author that the importance of SSB
is only for senior officers, from Colonels and above. The reasoning he
offers is that till the rank of Colonels, armed forces merely require
officers who will stand at the head of some troops and close in with the
enemy and thus don’t need to be tested in a process as stringent as the
SSB. His opinion is inaccurate not just for warzone or operational
formation or units, it is equally inappropriate for peace time
administrative jobs at some higher headquarters. A junior officer without
SSB will always be a risky bet.
At every level of interaction with the troops, from morning PT and
training to the evening roll call, from leisurely Bada Khana to intense
operations, the officer-like qualities (OLQs) tested by the SSB are
important. These are the qualities which evolve the Regimental Ethos. It
is fallacy to assume that the Regimental Ethos is created by a few
Generals sitting at the Services Headquarters, even if they may form an
important catalyst towards them. It is the junior officers who cultivate and
build the Regimental Ethos.
The history of the Indian Army is replete with examples of junior officers
with muscles of iron and nerves of steel.
Captain Manoj Pandey, PVC wrote to one of his friends before he went
in for his final operation, “I can assure you and all countrymen that
certainly we would push back intruders at whatever cost we have to pay,
maybe our lives.” They pushed the enemy back and sacrificed their lives
too.
“Either I will come back after hoisting the Tricolour or I will come back
wrapped in it, but I will be back for sure” were the last words of Captain
Vikram Batra, PVC. The Tricolour was hoisted but he unfortunately
came wrapped in it.
In the 1971 operations, Captain(IN) Mahendra Nath Mulla, VrC, chose to
go down with the sinking INS Khukri in line with the highest traditions of
the Service.
Without the qualities assessed at the SSB, such attitudes and acts will
be impossible to be seen among so many in one organisation. Such
martyrdom is not due to a stray bullet piercing through the body; these
are conscious acts of sacrifice.
We all sign something like an Unlimited Liability Contract at the time of
our commission, which is embedded in our oath too. Very few, not
assessed by SSB, would accept to sign such bonds and be prepared for
the moments that call for this supreme sacrifice.
Swami Vivekanand said that our bodies, our virtues, our intellect and our
spirituality, all of these are continuously influencing others. The virtues of
these brave soldiers, like Capt Manoj Pandey, Maj Ritesh Sharma, Capt
Anuj Nair, Sqn Ldr Ajay Ahuja, Capt Amol Kalia, Capt Saurav Kalia,
Capt Vikram Batra, and many others fighting conventional and Counter
Insurgency operations, influence fellow officers and other ranks to create
the Regimental Ethos which enables everyone to fight selflessly.
Numerous examples can be given to make the case why the SSB in its
present form is essential for every Service Officer irrespective of their
seniority rank or appointment.
The SSB primarily assesses candidates for their operational
performance and not a peace time office job.
I give the training regime in the academies its due credit to prepare an
officer for the supreme sacrifice. However, it can be appreciated that not
everyone can be moulded effectively by the training unless the person is
capable enough to learn and change with the training. SSBs undertake
this arduous task to select the best person who can be trained
effectively.
Technology may have changed at the higher headquarters but at the
Forward Defended Localities (FDLs), things are not much different from
what they were in 1947 or even earlier.
When an injured soldier is lying between two FDLs, and is to be
retrieved, the qualities required by the officer to carry out that task are
the same today as they were in 1947 or before. As such, tweaking with
the system of selection is not advisable when the end result we expect
remains the same.
Since I am from the Army, I tend to quote more examples from the Army,
but I am sure the officers from Indian Navy and AirForce will see similar
performances in their cadre, if not better.
The author has also mentioned that we have only 30% officers who have
something to look forward to after about 15 years of service when the
board for their selection to the Selection Grade Colonel(and equivalent)
is done. Yes. At any point in time we have approximately 50% of our
cadre strength of approximately 50000 officers(army) who have lost all
chances of promotions in their respective ranks. Almost 95% of passed
out officers retire in the rank of Colonel.
Any other organization with so many officers having nothing to look
forward to would have crumbled. However, the selfless attitude,
tremendous love for their Regimental Ethos, and the inborn values and
beliefs, which the SSB tests, ensure that even such a large percentage
of overlooked officers do not cause a threat to the organization. They
are, in fact, completely dedicated, disciplined and give their everything to
the organization in spite of knowing that they have nothing to take from it
except the pay and allowances. In the recent past, we have seen an
Army Commander gracefully receiving the Chief who was his Corps
Commander a few days back. It is only a matter of perception if this
could have been possible without the ethos of ‘organization above self’
that the SSB tests in an individual.
The contention of the author that the shortage of officers is due to the
strictness of the SSB may be partially correct, but it is only half the
picture. Notwithstanding the toughness or otherwise of selection system,
government policies and societal attitudes towards attracting youth
towards the Defence Forces matter a lot.
I would say that we are severely failing in that regard. There is an utter
lack of efforts at Government level, at University level, and at the School
or College level in most states to motivate the youth to join the Defence
Forces. As a result the quality of the youth, especially men, reaching the
level of SSB is much below the desired levels of acceptance. This is the
youth which does not have Defence Forces as their passion. Rather,
they normally come here as a last resort.
The meagre number of recommended candidates is the result of this unfortunate phenomenon which results in the rejection of a large proportion of the candidates.
In contrast, if you see any entry for lady officers, you will find that a
substantial number of ladies getting merited out because the women
opting to join the Defence Forces are much more passionate towards
the services but the vacancies available are much lesser. As President
of an SSB, there was a time when I had 19 women getting recommended out of 30 screened in for that one batch. I felt sorry knowing that not more than four of these would be able to join the Academy, with the rest getting merited out.
Even at a level of NDA for men, there are instances when many
candidates could not join due to a shortage of vacancies and
consequently got merited out. Therefore, it is incorrect to blame the SSB
for a shortage of officers in the Defence Forces.
To conclude, I am with the author for having some kind of system to test
the psychological aspect of the Civil Servants, provided this process is
approved by the bureaucrats themselves, which seems highly unlikely.
However, not having the SSB or even diluting its standards for officers of
Defence Services below the rank of Commanding Officers will be a
move with dire consequences for the nation.
Brig Vidur Ramchandra Nevrekar was commissioned to The Regiment of Artillery in 1982 and later commanded a Medium Regiment in Akhnoor in 2002. He raised an Artillery Brigade in Western RALP in 2009. He was President 21 SSB between 2012 and 2014 from where he superannuated.
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