India’s army might be forced to stop its colonial-era practice of assigning soldiers to serve as officers’ personal servants – polishing their shoes and weapons – after a parliamentary committee called it “a shameful system†that should have “no place in independent Indiaâ€.
The standing parliamentary committee on defence has called for the immediate abolition of the military batman – known as sahayak, or caretaker, in Hindi – who carries out personal chores for officers and their families.
“The committee hardly needs to stress that soldiers are recruited for serving the nation, and not to serve the family members of officers in household work, which is demeaning and humiliating,†said a report this week.
The report – on stress management in the armed forces – concluded that the practice was contributing to stress and discontentin the lower ranks. Indian officers’ large retinue of personal servants has also caused friction with other militaries when Indian forces join United Nations peace-keeping missions abroad.
The system of batmen – who carried out both personal and professional tasks, often in combat – existed in many European militaries in the 19th and early 20th century. The British army called them “soldier-servants†until the term batman was adopted between the world wars.
But while European armies eliminated batmen as recruitment patterns changed after the second world war, the Indian army continued it after its 1947 independence from Britain.
In theory, batmen are asked to maintain officers’ uniforms, weapons and equipment and serve as radio operators, runners and “buddies†in combat. “It’s incorrect to see them purely as glorified servants,†said retired Commodore Uday Bhaskar, former head of the New Delhi-based Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis.
The call to abolish the system comes amid a bitter wrangle between India’s 1m-strong army and civilian bureaucrats over armed forces’ pay and perks. It also comes at a time of severe shortage of officers.
The use of “servants†to carry out officials’ personal chores at taxpayers’ expense is hardly confined to the armed forces. Throughout India’s civilian administration, officials – from ministers to district collectors in remote rural areas – are granted large retinues to look after all their needs.
“This is how the system has evolved,†Com Bhaskar said. “If you want to have a manpower reduction in the Indian army, then what about the rest of the system?â€
The standing parliamentary committee on defence has called for the immediate abolition of the military batman – known as sahayak, or caretaker, in Hindi – who carries out personal chores for officers and their families.
“The committee hardly needs to stress that soldiers are recruited for serving the nation, and not to serve the family members of officers in household work, which is demeaning and humiliating,†said a report this week.
The report – on stress management in the armed forces – concluded that the practice was contributing to stress and discontentin the lower ranks. Indian officers’ large retinue of personal servants has also caused friction with other militaries when Indian forces join United Nations peace-keeping missions abroad.
The system of batmen – who carried out both personal and professional tasks, often in combat – existed in many European militaries in the 19th and early 20th century. The British army called them “soldier-servants†until the term batman was adopted between the world wars.
But while European armies eliminated batmen as recruitment patterns changed after the second world war, the Indian army continued it after its 1947 independence from Britain.
In theory, batmen are asked to maintain officers’ uniforms, weapons and equipment and serve as radio operators, runners and “buddies†in combat. “It’s incorrect to see them purely as glorified servants,†said retired Commodore Uday Bhaskar, former head of the New Delhi-based Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis.
The call to abolish the system comes amid a bitter wrangle between India’s 1m-strong army and civilian bureaucrats over armed forces’ pay and perks. It also comes at a time of severe shortage of officers.
The use of “servants†to carry out officials’ personal chores at taxpayers’ expense is hardly confined to the armed forces. Throughout India’s civilian administration, officials – from ministers to district collectors in remote rural areas – are granted large retinues to look after all their needs.
“This is how the system has evolved,†Com Bhaskar said. “If you want to have a manpower reduction in the Indian army, then what about the rest of the system?â€
