1 TRANSLATION OF THE PROCEEDINGS AND ... - APFA News

should now discuss the issue of raising a militia force. The people had
repeatedly submitted in previous sessions of the Assembly that the young able
bodied men in the villages were ready to serve as militia volunteers to safeguard
the security of the country. The members had said that if the ULFA-Bodo
problem could not be resolved through peaceful means then military action
would have to be resorted to and the people had proposed to mobilize a militia
force to support the regular army.
A Royal Advisory Councillor pointed out that the ULFA-Bodo problem had
been posing a security threat to the country for almost a decade. The
representatives of the armed forces had informed the Assembly about the
number of people who had volunteered as recruits for the army to safeguard the
security of the country. Although more people from the villages should have
volunteered, he said that about 72 percent of the Bhutanese youth were either in
schools or looking for gainful employment, and there were only a limited
member of able-bodied young men in the villages. Therefore, it would be
beneficial for both the Government and the people if school dropouts and
unemployed youth were given the opportunity to join the security forces.
They proposed that as many of the youth as possible should be imparted
military training. All the young men who complete their education should
undergo military training for a specified period before joining service or taking
up permanent employment. Similarly, college students should also undergo
training before joining college. These young men would provide a reserve force
which can be issued with uniforms and weapons and immediately deployed
whenever the country is faced with very serious security problems. The
Assembly should draw up a specific policy on raising a military force.
His Majesty pointed out that, as the Assembly members were aware, in the past
the required number of recruits for the armed forces were conscripted from the
20 Dzongkhags. Today, only the volunteers were inducted into the army and
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