When it comes to the Indian army, perhaps the first picture that comes to many people's minds is this:
【Motorcycle team at the Indian military parade】
In our eyes, Indians seem to be very good at "driving and hanging", hanging trains, cars, walls, and key military personnel can also hang motorcycles, I am afraid that only India in the world will do this.
In addition, in fact, there is a very special phenomenon in the Indian army, before enlistment, almost no young man is very fat, and some even look like they are going to be blown away by the wind.
【India Recruitment Site】
But as long as they enlist in the army and become soldiers, these soldiers are like "hanging up" again, like blowing up balloons, their bodies are expanding year by year, and in the later stage, almost everyone is the image of a big belly, and their clothes are full of fat.
【Indian Soldiers】
Why is that? Is it because the food of the Indian army far exceeds that of the common people?
Conscription in India
To understand the problem of food in India, we must first understand the conscription system in India, or more accurately, the "conscription system".
India was colonized by the British for nearly 200 years, and after independence, they continued to continue the British system in many ways, including the military system.
【Indian Army under the British】
They did not adopt compulsory conscription, as many modernist countries do, and those who joined the army did not do so because of how patriotic they were, but purely for the sake of "one soldier and no hunger for the whole family".
Because the salary of a soldier is higher than that of an ordinary worker, and as long as you want, you can be a soldier until retirement, and you can also enjoy very superior medical and fund treatment after retirement.
Therefore, more Indians are going to serve in the army out of the idea of supporting their families.
【Indian Soldiers】
But there is a problem that Britain has not had much problem using this system, because their already developed economy can still support the military even if it is a temporary burden on the country's finances.
As of April 2023, India already has a population of 1.42 billion, only a little more than China, but they have 3.5 million more new military personnel each year.
[Comparison of available forces and mobilization potential between China and India]
Raising these soldiers has already overwhelmed their country's finances, so in the past two years, under the call of many people of insight, India has begun to implement a new conscription system, while tightening the age limit for recruits, only allowing ordinary soldiers to serve as soldiers for a maximum of four years.
But the Indian public and some vested interests have not been very receptive to the move and have been protesting.
[Indian people protest against conscription]
The current state of the diet of the Indian army
Let's take a look at the food situation of the Indian army, in fact, they are not as good as everyone thinks, and even they eat worse than ordinary people.
First of all, the biggest problem is the problem of corruption in India, the corruption of telecommunications and high-end housing in the society are endless, and the people in India have protested I don't know how many times.
[Indian people protest against corruption]
Crucially, the Indian army is also a major area of corruption, especially logistics.
In March 2001, India exposed a private conversation between a senior official of the ruling party and a senior military general, and the two were not ashamed to talk about kickbacks and bribes.
In 2016, the Indian media revealed that several senior officers of the Indian Army's logistics department had used livestock feed as soldiers' rations for a long time in order to corrupt high kickbacks, which was unheard of.
【Indian Army Food】
The food money was embezzled, and the soldiers needed enough energy for training, so all kinds of cheap junk food were put on the soldiers' tables.
Another reason is India's economic problems.
In 2019, for example, China had more people than India, but its GDP per capita was already five times that of India.
Because of the geographical location, India is prone to drought or flooding, and these natural disasters will inevitably lead to a reduction in food production, and for the sake of soldiers' physical fitness, the army can only prepare high-calorie foods that are high in sugar and oil.
【Indian Food】
There are also some soldiers who do not have enough to eat before joining the army, and they overeat as soon as they enter the army, which eventually leads to obesity.
The quality of the Indian soldiers themselves
As mentioned earlier, when Indians serve in the army, many of them go for money, and they have loyalty and love for the country, but maybe not much.
Regardless of the fact that India and Pakistan have not dealt with each other in recent decades and have gone to war at every turn, Indian soldiers have not received too strict military training.
One is the problem of the army management system, and the other part is that the Indian soldiers themselves are not motivated, so they are lazy and lazy, and let the fat run rampant.
summary
In general, there are several main reasons why Indians become fat as soon as they become soldiers:
1. The soldier himself is not strict with himself, and he overeats, resulting in obesity;
2. The military system allows Indian soldiers to be soldiers all the time, especially middle-aged people, who are more likely to gain weight;
3. There is a serious problem of corruption in India, and soldiers are often forced to eat all kinds of cheap junk food;
4. India's grain production is seriously affected by the climate, resulting in the army can only use a large amount of high-calorie food to supplement the physical fitness of soldiers.
India has always regarded China as an imaginary enemy, comparing everything with the mainland, and believes that it is stronger and has more development potential than China, but looking at India's performance in many aspects, we can only persuade India to first solve the problem of its own system and economy and serious corruption, and then talk about underdevelopment.
Resources:
[1] Unveiling the mystery of the Indian army China Youth Daily
[2] India Pushes the Reform of the Military Service System, China Youth Daily
[3] Commentary says that the Indian army is mired in corruption and infighting, and modernization is a fool's dream Global Times
[4] Large-scale anti-corruption protests broke out in many cities in India, Oriental Morning Post