Soldiers’ Recruitment in South Asia

• Author: Mainpal Singh
• DOI: 10.1177/0095327X16667085
• Date: 01 October 2017
• Published date: 01 October 2017
• Subject Matter: Mini-Forum on Recruitment

Mini-Forum on Recruitment

Soldiers’ Recruitment in

South Asia: An Empirical

Case Study of the

Propensity of Indian

Gujarati Youth to Enlist

Mainpal Singh

1

Abstract

This study uses a surveyto examine the propensity of IndianGujarati youth to enlist in

theArmy. The predictors wereorganized in three categoriesof demographic,individual

characteristics of personality, routine and behavior, and socioeconomic and cultural

aspects to measure their impact on the intention to enlist. The relationship between

son’s intentto enlist and the father’s intentto allow the son’s enlistmentwas tested by

logistic regression. The results of the study showed that non-Gujarati domiciles of

Gujarat and the higher number of peopleworking in the industrial plants hadpositive

effect on enlistment propensity,whereas location of a factorynear their residence had

negative effecton the intention to enlist.Members of National Cadet Corpsand those

who did not have a family rolemodel showed a positive intention to enlist.

Keywords

youth, propensity to enlist, Army recruitment, enlistment model, logistic regression

In South Asia, Indian and Pakistani military recruits from various states are selected

as per their share (recruitable male population [RMP]) in the national population

(Government of India, 2005). However, the experience after independence has

1

Bhavnagar University, Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India

Corresponding Author:

Mainpal Singh, A 303 Devsangam Apartments, Koteshwar Motera Road, PO Sabarmati, District

Ahmadabad, Gujarat 380005, India

Email: singhmainpal22@yahoo.in

Armed Forces & Society

2017, Vol. 43(4) 632-653

ªThe Author(s) 2016

Reprints and permission:

sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav

DOI: 10.1177/0095327X16667085

journals.sagepub.com/home/afs

shown skewed representation from some states in both countries (Fair, Grammich,

Vanzo, & Nichiporuk, 2005; Gautam, 2008). During the period 1968–1971, the

Indian states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh were overrepresented at 15.3%and

4.68%, respectively, in the Indian Army compared to the state quota of 2.6%and

0.6%, respectively (Sudarshan, 1989). On the other hand, extra efforts are required to

recruit soldiers from the states of Sindh and Baluchistan (Pakistan Army, 2012) in

Pakistan. Both India and Pakistan are interested in a military that mirrors the demo-

graphics of the country. They look for an army of citizen soldiers who represent a

cross section of the society they serve. Disproportionate enlistment across internal

regions is a problem for both India and Pakistan. When states do not meet their share

of RMP, the disproportionate representation by the youth of other states is the net

outcome. Gujarat is one such Indian state. It is difficult to measure the direct

enlistment behavior of the Gujarati youth, so the author like many other scholars

studying enlistment has used the enlistment intention as the source of inference.

Motivation for the Study

Most Indian recruitment literature has focused on the overrepresentation of com-

munities like Punjabis and Gurkhas in the Army. While it is true that the commu-

nities of Sikhs and Gurkhas in India and Punjabi Muslims in Pakistan provide more

recruits than their quota, there has been no study to investigate the underrepresenta-

tion of recruits in the Indian Army from various geographic regions, say, from the

states of Gujarat or Bengal.

Gujarat is one of the most economically developed states in India. It has unique

demographic and migratory patterns, which can have a potential impact on the

collective belief system of the local population. Migration has historically resulted

in the significant outmigration of its younger population to international regions.

The Gujaratis at home are applauded for their successful business acumen. This may

lead to a negative perception toward government service and the armed forces in

general. As a result, the propensity of the youth to enlist or the fathers allowing their

sons to enlist in this social environment is likely to suffer.

The present deficit in the army recruitment quotas of Gujarat (Government of

Gujarat, 2005) and the historical evidence of lack of interest in military participa-

tion motivated the author to study factors which could have influenced this low

propensity. Both economic and noneconomic incentives (social prestige) encour-

age men to join the army (Kolff, 1990).The focus of this study is the noneconomic

or sociocultural aspects that influence youth’s intention to enlist in a specific

geographic region.

Review of Literature–Military Recruitment in South Asia

Qualitative studies based on secondary data on the Imperial Army of British India by

authors such as General Mac Munn (1952) and historian Stephen P. Cohen (1990)

Singh 633