Note: This article may sound little bit controversial, Indian army is a
great institution and pride of our nation. But still following some colonial
traditions that has to be abandoned one of them is the ‘sahayak’ or ‘helper’
assigned to every officers/JCOs as
personal servants. This article is for exposing the realities of this shameful
tradition(Here the term officers includes both commissioned and Junior
Commissioned Officers),Enlisted term refers to all personal below Officers excluding JCOs.Majority of the contents in this are taken from third party sources and links are provided under sources at the end of the article.,Article is yet to be edited .
10th
may 2012 was a rough day for Army. A mutiny took place at 226 Field Artillery
Control Unit raised many alarm bells about discipline in armed forces and
colonial system named ‘sahayak’. The incident took place during an annual firing
exercise at Mahe in Nyoma at the training camp of the unit. It is alleged that
a 'sahayak'(orderly) Suman Ghose reportedly misbehaved with a Major's wife at a
family picnic party in the officers' mess located at BRO guest house, after
which several Majors bashed up the Army jawan. When the CO came to know of it, he
reportedly admonished the Major for not providing ambulance for the jawan's
treatment. Seeing this, the Major along with five of his officer
colleagues beat the Commanding Officer, a Colonel, in front of jawans. This
angered the jawans who then went berserk and beat the other officers with
sticks^. This is not just one incident, there has been alot of incidents
triggered because of the worsening officer-enlisted relationship. The Ladakh
incident was an eye opener.
What is shahayak system ?
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| Orderlies were used by nepolian on battlefields |
Sahayak
or Batman (Abbreviated form of Battle-men) is a trained soldier assigned to
officers as a helper, to assist him during combat, up keeping his uniforms, to
act as his radio operater and as a ‘buddy’ in the field. Batmen were
extensively used during colonial period, especially in the form of messengers
or as runner to convey orders of the officers to men during the combat. But
soon after the invention of wireless communication systems ‘messengers’ term is
replaced by ‘orderly or batman’. The duties of batman includes
- Acting as a “runner” to convey orders from the officers to subordinates (obsolete)
- Maintaining officers uniform and personal equipments as a valet
- Driving officers vehicle ,sometimes under combat conditions
- Acting as officer’s body guard in combat
- Digging officer’s foxhole in combat, giving the officer time to direct his unit.
- Other miscellaneous tasks the officer does not have time or inclination to do.
Batman system in other countries
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| A British soldier and US army officer during WW II |
Batman system
was present in almost all armies of the world until the Worl War II,they were
known in different names in different countries and were assigned to do different
jobs., Some of them were assigned to do the official duties while others were
used as personal servants. But, WW II exposed evil side of the Batman. There
were reports of ill-treatment of enlisted by the officers. The later studies
revealed that most of the batmen were misused by the officers as their personal
servents and this affected fighting morale of men. Soon after the war most of
the countries such as France,Germany, Soviet Union,Pakistan(Replaced with
non-combatants),Turkey United Kingdom ,Italy and United States abolished this
system . Many of them were decided to appoint an enlisted person to senior officers,
only to help him with his official duties.
Batman system in Indian army
While most
of the modern armies decided to abolish batman system, Indian army continues
this system under the label of ‘up keeping tradition’, which led to widespread
mistrust between officers and enlisted. Modern day soldiers are well educated
and they are having their own aims and passions. Majority of them are against these policies
and want to be treated equally. The most astonishing fact is that more than 30,000
of soldiers are assigned as Sahayaks and many of them are doing household works
in officer’s houses, while at the same time army reports shortage of 27000 men.So
the shortage simply implies army literally needs more ‘sahayaks’ rather than
trained combatants.
Mistrust and
Lack of morale can have grave effects in battlefield. 21st century
bought new complication in the battlefields. Wars are currently waged
indirectly and direct large scale movements are proved to be ineffective. This
condition brings in larger role of small strike teams or platoons rather than
mobilization of whole infantry unit. For this kind of operations trust and
coordination between officers and enlisted are necessary. If the men are
demotivated, failure is certain. So keeping this batman system can only bring
more mistrust and literally increase the communication gap between officers and
enlisted. As most of the enlisted are from poor economic backgrounds, many of
them are continuing in the army only for the sake of family. This anger is also
fuelled by slow promotion and low- salary.
On the
other hand average Indian armed forces officer is overburdened with duties and
are not getting enough time to fulfil his personal works. This is one of the
major reasons that lead to the misuse of ‘sahayaks’. As separate servants are
not provided like that in Air force and Navy they are using the sahayak as their
personal servants. Their families are never aware of this and continue to
believe them as a perk by the Army. The enlisted are assigned to wash the
cloths, cooking, driving their wives to shopping complexes or for sightseeing,
and sometimes as waiters. The soldiers are reluctant to report these incidents
to higher formations because the fears of slower promotions or hard postings.
So the system continued and now it has became a birth right for officers. According
to a retired General “A Lt Col who commands 120 people is given one man to help
him, while two junior officers may share a sahayak”. He also claims “that
nobody questions the system of sahayaks for the police or the administrative services.
An IPS officer or an IAS may have a number of sahayaks working for him, but
they are not questioned. But anything to do with the Army quickly comes into
the limelight”. This is a mere example how the senior officials
Responses of officers and Enlisted
Note: For copyright and identity concerns names are not used in this article,
although names are provided in parent websites and can be viewed by opening the
links under sources heading.
The
enlisted have a common opinion to abolish this system. But the officers found
to have a mixed opinion, while some want to put an end to system, other were
supporting it by giving mere excuses .
According
to a retired Lance Naik it is demeaning for soldiers to serve their officers as
domestic help. He describes an incident where he was used as waiter for his
officers and friends on the day of Ghandi Jayanthi. “After the party, we washed
the dishes and cleaned up the place. When the officers’ party, we get to eat
only after 3 am, though we have to wake up again at the crack of dawn. If they
get very drunk, we also have to drive them home.” He recollects.
He wishes
to give voice to hundreds of his colleagues by volunteering to speak out on the
issue. “The Armed Forces Tribunal is out of the ordinary soldier’s reach and we
shy away from the media as promotions will get held back or we will be
transferred to difficult postings immediately,” He also complaints about the
quality of standard-issue items such as shoes and claims that a jawan has to
spend more than a month’s salary every year to replace or alter the
“substandard items”. “Else, we would look like an army of porters,” he says.
In
2008, the parliamentary standing committee on defence had acknowledged that the
army loses more soldiers to fratricide and suicide than in internal or external
conflict. He believes that the ‘batman’ system and ill-treatment by officers
are also factors behind this as they add to the stress that jawans undergo,
sometimes leading to suicide.
According
to a retired Naval officer sahayaks are more like personal servents and are used
for doing household worked.”When i was posted to an training establishment were
officers from all branches are treated equally army officers had an extra perk
called sahayaks, the army officer stayed next to his house believed it’s the
duty of sahayaks to walk the dogs, bathing them and doing some other house hold
works “ he recollects. He also asserts need for ending this practice .
Another
army pilot also shares the same views. According to him ” When I joined the Army and ended up in an old
illustrious Artillery Regiment, the first thing we young officers were told was
that we would have to share one batman between three of us and that gone on
till I became a young Captain. We were also told what the batman was supposed
to do and this was strictly implemented.
During the 1971 Indo Pak War, I did get the privilege of a personal
batman, though I recall he was more my bodyguard, radio operator and buddy. My stints in training establishments were
with no 'orderly' in uniform. The Mess bearer looked after my needs. Subsequent to my joining the flying branch as
an AOP pilot I was exposed to the IAF system where civilians did the odd job or
two. My wife did the shopping and we had a paid safaiwallah who did the house.
Of course a lot of my younger married life was in field or semi field areas.
But with wife and son in tow. Was lucky I suppose. When we did return to Peace routine, it was
once again sharing of the batman. Never
did we ever use the batman as a personal servant. Eventually I ended up in a
HQs establishment and found that the ubiquitous “sahayak” was again a far and distant
subject. All of us staff officers had a
batman who dropped by twice or thrice a week. We never had or used ‘batmen’ for
what can now be termed ‘menial’ jobs and are considered humiliating. We did our
own shopping, hired the usual maid and odd job help. I do not recall seeing
batmen hovering around when I went calling to a senior officers home”, he also
says “A lot of officers who used to be single in the old days are now married
at an earlier age. Instead of the educating their wives about Service customs
and traditions, the modern 21st Century officer likes to consider himself
as an equal to his superior. Strange but that’s the honest fact of the matter.
And terribly wrong. Leadership suffers.
Do remember that there is a very fine dividing line between privilege and
misuse. “
In an open
letter to Hindu on Ladakh incident an army Major says “I am an officer serving
in the Indian Army. In 12 years, I have worked everywhere from mountains to
deserts. The army officers are known for looking after their men. The Chetwood
credo is ingrained in our blood, and the accusation that the officers use their
jawans for domestic help is false. The officers lead the men in every activity
of their battalion. Our men have immense faith in us. You need to be in the
army to understand the bonding.My sahayak is my buddy; we walk together, play
together, I cover him when he is crawling, so does he when I am dashing on the
ground. He helps me operate my equipment, cares for me when I am sick and
brings me a bottle of homemade pickle when he comes back from leave. Army
sahayaks are not comparable to the cooks and orderlies of bureaucrats. My unit
is my family. If I have to choose between my family and battalion, it will be
my battalion and my men.”. Many officers
might be sharing the same views as this major does, but overall result is still
the same.
Sahayaks
are helpers to the officers, and are a great asset professionally according to
a retired General. "In case they are given domestic jobs, then it is
wrong, and it is the duty of the commanding officer to ensure that this does
not happen," He adds.At the same time another General asserts need for
continuing the system and explains it with Sahayaks provided to IAS/IPS
officers, He also suggests that women who marry Army officers must be educated
in this regard, and must understand that the sahayak is a helper only for the
officer.
Air force
is not having the system of using combatant as orderlies, they were replaced by
Non-Combatants Enrolled (Nc(E))s ,But a Wing commander states "This
question keeps coming up, but people who raise these objections are unaware of
how the Army functions. The fact remains that the sahayak takes on a lot of
minor jobs for the senior officers. When the officers go for field duty, the
man is with him all the time." "A better understanding of the
do's and don'ts may be required, but it will be a grave mistake to do away with
the system altogether. The sahayaks are educated now, and know their
rights," he points out. However, a retired Wing Commander admits that often
the sahayaks are given menial and demeaning household jobs.
On an open
letter to The Hindu an retired Lt.Col says “The Ladakh incident is an aberration
(“Wake-up call for the army,” March 26). It is condemnable and definitely calls
for corrective and preventive action at all levels. The sahayak or orderly is
not meant to be a domestic help. During war, he is supposed to be at call of
the officer. There are many stories of sahayaks’ supreme sacrifice in the line
of duty. The sahayak also acts as the pulse of an army unit. He forewarns the
officer so that untoward incidents do not take place. Some sahayaks become part
of their officers’ families. Many officers are known to have visited their
sahayaks’ villages to attend their family functions. The officer-sahayak
relationship in a regiment is thicker than blood.” While another colonel
strongly supports the sahayak system by stating “Having served in the Army for
over three decades, I am of the firm opinion that despite cacophony raised by
the civilians, the "batman" system MUST continue.Slowly all the
privileges of the Armed forces are either being taken away or being
usurped.Cars disappeared from CSD,lesser number of items are being supplied to
CSD,there is growing demand in different parts of India to "shift"
the Forces "out" of the cities and lucrative areas so that the civilians
can sell it.For example, in Simla they want Army to vacate an age old area so
that it can be sold. There was a time when the lives of Forces personnel were
private.It is not so any longer. Civilians-abetted by the media- have intruded
upon this once august society. To some extent there has been a lowering of the
standards in the Armed forces-which is an to some extent natural since there
has been a decline of the society as such.If you give up the "Batman"
today, tomorrow they will take away the Messes and officers Institutes as
well.The government officials whether at the District/State or Centre, enjoy
far more perks..Does anyone question why a freshly recruited DC/DM/SP have a
battery of five to ten servants, cooks, waiters, etc? No, the system of combat
soldier serving as batman, MUST be continued.”
With this
mixed opinions within the serving personals, the government will never get a
positive reply on this . While a study conducted by some army officials
stressed the need for ending the system under the leadership of Gen. V. K Singh.
Still the proposals are yet to be implimented even after years of his retirement.
Conclusion
The army must take necessary steps
into abolishing sahayak practice and must replace them with non-combatants,
They must learn lessons from other modern armies and sister forces. As this
systems gravely affects the morale of men the government must bring new policies
for up keeping the status of soldier s and must bring positive changes in the
field of welfare of them
Sources:
