The army must do away with the sahayak system

It detracts from the qualities of fair play and honour that characterises the force

Army chief Bipin Rawat has done something that should have been done long ago — scrapping the or assistant system for retired generals. The army chief is right when he says that the main purpose of the army is to be ready for war and not for its men to caddy retired generals around the golf course.

He should now go a step further and stop this practice of serving soldiers being assigned to senior officers to carry out personal duties, many of which are just menial tasks. Many soldiers have complained, even posted videos showing themselves engaged in humiliating tasks for the families of their superiors, including household shopping and taking children to school. army should take a leaf out of the book of the navy and air force, both of which have done away with this system.

The contention that the is akin to a buddy to an officer is specious. In an army, a person described as a buddy covers a soldier and protects him during an operation. The army chief is echoing the parliamentary standing committee on defence which said earlier that are meant to serve the nation and not the family members of officers. The system is prevalent not just in the army but in paramilitary organisations as well. Such is the rigid hierarchy in the army that refusal to obey the orders of a superior officer even if they fall outside the definition of a work could invite punitive action.

General Rawat should see his directive through and also extend it to serving officers. This will make it clear that soldiers should have no distractions other than their official duties.