STANDARDS AND MEASURES TO IMPROVE THESE
INTRODUCTION
1. The traditional military ethic of our army can be described on the concept of ‘Namak’ or salt. One is supposed to be faithful to the person whose salt one has eaten. The allegiance is not necessarily to the state but to what the soldier serves directly – the regiment or may be his direct superior officer.
2. During the tenure of the British Raj, the ruling power had assigned a unique position of authority and privilege to the Armed Forces. After 1857, the hardy peasantry, especially from the northern India, invested with the stable qualities of a work ethic and the traditional honour that bearing of arms carried, was chosen to provide the manpower pool for the Army.
3. The social ethos of the country has undergone vast changes since 1947. The Indian life with its roots in the rural areas, which was almost static till 1947, is on the move. The opening up of the Indian economy has created many avenues of high gain employment. Long held social and moral values are breaking down under the pressure of a search for better economic deals. There is an ever-upward revision of economic goals.
4. Soldiers now drawn from a more resurgent cross-section of the nation fully reflect the new set of aspirations and expectations. Moreover, while most of the soldiers retire at a fairly young age and need a gainful employment to sustain themselves economically, very few post-retirement opportunities are open to them.
AIM
5. The aim of this paper is to examine the reasons for declining morals and ethics in the Armed Forces and recommend measures to improve them.
MORALS AND ETHICS
Reasons for Declining Morals and Ethics
6. Standard of Intake. The Armed Forces are finding it increasingly difficult to attract suitable manpower into its ranks. This decline in the popularity of the Armed Forces being considered a satisfying career