SOURCE: The Telegraph.
An American army officer’s account of her time training in Agra has given a glimpse into the class-system in the Indian Army and has stoked once again the debate of assigning
sahayaks — or batmen — who are often required to do personal work of officers.
First Lieutenant Laura Condyles’ account, narrated to the US army’s official publicity wing, suggests she had a grand time during her 52-day course at the Para Training School in Agra in August-September.
But the insight it shares — that the Indian Army differentiates sharply between officers and soldiers and that it operates with poor infrastructure — have made senior officials here take note.
There are exceptions to the
sahayak rule — not all officers ask the batmen to do personal work — but that does not shine through in Condyles’ narration.
The Indian Army’s structure “is pretty different,” the US army official wire release quotes the 25-year-old parachute rigger-qualified officer as saying.
“When you are an officer on post, they cook your meal for you, or they deliver it to your room. They clean your bathroom for you every day. They mop your floors in your room every day. They even make your bed for you every day, and they do your laundry every single day,” says Condyles.
The observations make Indian Army officers touchy. Former army chief General V.K. Singh had proposed to do away with the
sahayak system and replace them with civilians. He had argued it was not proper for professional soldiers to be forced to do such work.
A parliamentary standing committee has also recommended the abolition of the system dating back to the British Indian Army. The British have done away with it.
But Condyles says that life was difficult in Agra, even with the conveniences. “I had electricity about 40 to 50 per cent of the time,” she says in the account.
The parachute rigger-qualification course trains soldiers in lashing and packaging equipment, including food and hardware, for airdrops. Many of the Indian Army’s forward posts — such as those in Siachen — are “air-maintained”.
Laura Condyles said she was the first foreign officer to qualify with an ‘I” grade — meaning she showed skills good enough for her to be an instructor. “I got it! I’m the first foreign officer that’s ever gotten the “i” grade before, so that was pretty neat!”
“I loved it! I had a great time,” said Condyles. “The cool thing was I’m the first American that went to the course. They had other foreign officers that went to this course before too, one from Sri Lanka, one from Ethiopia, from Nepal, and Pakistan.”
The American officer is wrong when she says a Pakistani was also part of the course. The Indian Army has no personnel exchange programme with Pakistan.
“They drop live animals,” she was quoted. “They put chickens and goats on a platform and drop them in for food”.
Condyles said cows would often enter the air force station in Agra and even the hangars in which the equipment was parachute-rigged. Among the rations dropped during the course were bagged items, tent supplies, bottles, hay, medical provisions, fish, meat on hoof, meat dressed, frozen meat, chicken dressed, chicken alive, fruits and vegetables, and fuel, oil and lubricants.
“At their motor pools they have temples. So, before you get into a military vehicle and drive away, you have to pray to the gods.” Condyles said.
