Army "unattractive" career option for youth, says Gen Kapoor

Army chief General Deepak Kapoor feels the armed forces are an "unattractive" career option for the country's youth and is looking at steps to counter that image.

"It does worry the Army chief... very much," he said here when asked about the Army's plans to fill up the 11,000-odd vacancies in the officer cadre and the dwindling number of youth wanting to join the armed forces.

"The armed forces have, after a study, come to the conclusion that the army is not too attractive as a career for a young man, who is looking for employemnt... for good productive life," Kapoor said in an interview.

To reach out to the youth, the army has in the recent times proposed to make the Short Service Commission (SSC) an attractive option for the youth by encouraging them to go for additional qualification such as a Doctorate or an MBA to
enhance opportunities in the private sector when they leave the force.

It had also moved another proposal to send the SSC officers for higher command courses to enable them to continue as permanent officers. These courses were hitherto offered only to regular officers.

Another plan was to provide the SSC officers 'gratuity' for the 14-year service in the army that would make some funds available to them as a buffer when they left the service.