02 May 2004	Sunday	11 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

ISLAMABAD, May 1: The formation commanders decision for a phased reduction in troops' strength by 50,000 would be implemented in the army with a bottom-up approach.

The Pakistan army has some 600,000 active duty troops and half a million reserve manpower in addition to paramilitary troops numbering close to 250,000, including the National Guard, Rangers, Frontier Corps, Janbaz Training Force, Maritime Security Agency, Coast Guard and the anti-terrorist elite force.

The restructuring plan of the Pakistan army, among other things, envisages a golden handshake for non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and other ranks (Sepoys/ORs) on completion of a certain number of years.

The ORs who opt for a golden handshake would be the first priority for re-hiring as contractual non-combatant bearers for a term of five years. The Pakistan Army Act would be applicable on the contractual employees during the term of their five year contract.

The move to hire contractual batmen in a new cadre of non-combatant bearers would result in savings for the military in terms of gratuity, pension and medical allowances and facilities.

As the combatant soldiers gradually phase out from their duties of batmen to active soldiering, non-combatant bearers would be recruited in their place to save on post-retirement benefits.

Approximately a division strength of Pakistan army, varying from 20,000-25,000 soldiers, is currently employed as batmen for the officers. It was learnt that non-combatant bearers will initially be hired for officers up to the rank of lt-colonels.

According to military sources, the long-term restructuring would change the Pakistan army from a conventional force trained to fight with its infantry, artillery and armoured divisions to a strategically deployed and well-equipped force. The acquisition of deterrent capabilities has enabled the army to do force restructuring and rightsizing from a bottom-up approach instead from top down, said a source.

The lower ranks, including ORs and NCOs would be the first to face the restructuring. The first choice for reduction would be the paramilitary forces including the National Guard.

The army's strength has witnessed more than a three-fold increase since 1971 when the geographical area was nearly halved by the creation of Bangladesh.