Annexure II: Voluntary National Service

As suggested by Lt. Gen. M L. Chibber PVSM, AVSM, (Retd.) as quoted in ‘ALIVE’ magazine 01 Jan 1988 issue by Sulakshan Menon)

The Constitution of lndia by Article 5lA (d), part IV-A, enjoins all citizens to take up voluntary National Service as required. It states: “It is obligatory for every citizen to defend the country and render National Service when called upon to do so”.

The concept of National Service is based on the democratic principle that every citizen renders some service to the Nation and Society for the benefit he/ she derives by belonging to it. It means every citizen gives a few years of his/her life for the defence or development of the Nation. It differs from conscription, as National Service transcends the Military and covers many other fields which strengthen the Nation.

As obviously the Nation does not have the resources to absorb all the youth reaching a certain age every year in such Service or into the Military, it would be more practical to make a short stint (3 to 4 years) in the National Service an additional compulsory qualification for gaining admission into colleges. (It could also, be made an essential requirement for certification at the end of any professional course e.g.: medical students serving a stint in rural PHCs)

The National Cadet Corps (NCC) could be upgraded and expanded to become a National Service Corps. This Corps could be used by the States for afforestation, adult education, water conservation schemes and such other development projects, especially in rural and under-developed areas.

A long stint in the Armed Forces or an even longer stint in the National Service Corps could be made an essential requirement to apply for class I and class II government jobs.

Annexure – III

The belief system, and some truths – Dipali Rastogi, these are the assumptions an IAS officer lives with, and the reality there:

We are in this service to serve. The truth is, we scarcely behave as servants.

We handle vast sums of money and human resources; we do not possess any expertise for this task. We are not trained accordingly.

We have a very high opinion of ourselves and our “intelligence” and “experience’: and think people respect us for what we are. In reality, people genuflect before us due to the power we wield to either do benefit or damage.

Over the years we have developed the tendency to distribute largesse, whether in kind or in ideas. In reality, we do not own what we distribute. We are paid to manage things efficiently and create systems, In actuality, we thrive on mismanagement and chaos because that gives us the power to choose some over others.

We are supposedly the steel frame. In reality, we have no long-term vision. We take ad hoc decisions, looking to what the authority above us wants.

We exploit the system for preferential treatment – for ourselves and people known to us. We are hypocritical enough to say we do it to “help” people.

We know if we create systems where everyone has easy access to services, we shall become superfluous. So, we let things be.

We love to expand and enhance our sphere of work. We do not bother to place systems to bring in the needed efficiency.

Worst of all, we are the most pompous, officious and ill-bred set of people. And we have the nerve to say we work for the people of this Country.

In reality we have no stakes in this Country – our children often study abroad and we have created a niche cocoon of the luxuries this system can give us.

We have no empathy with the larger populace, though we are always careful to make the right noises.

If there were any justice, we would have long been extinct. But we are too powerful to let ourselves be annihilated.

We are the IAS!

JAI BHARAT! – JAI HIND!

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