Author: Evgeni Nikolaychuk, exclusive to VK
The subject of recruitment of young people from the North Caucasus republics to serve in the Russian Armed Forces, which was recently raised by VK, has been developed: the head of Dagestan Magomedsalam Magomedov has managed to increase the number of recruiting young people from the country to four thousand people.
The request to significantly increase the conscription in the republic was sent to new Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu signed by eleven deputies of the State Duma from Dagestan. The MPs asked to call up for military service in the next year at least 3-5 thousand people, drawing attention of the Minister of Defense that in Dagestan military service is honorable. "Young people are denied job opportunities - for example, in the police, fire and security companies - the deputies' request says. - The young people of military age have to pay bribes or register in other regions, with higher quotas for the conscription. After the registration they no longer have to wait long for the call from the recruiting office. "
In addition, the MPs asked to consider the introduction of additional measures to support the pre-conscription training for young people in the country. In March, the MPs have sent requesting to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to influence the situation. After that, it was decided to increase the quota of about two to three times, but that is not enough: this autumn only 179 people were called up, and the year before - 121, and even tripling the number of recruits does not change the situation. And given the fact that people who have not served in the army are not accepted to the civil service or the police, the situation becomes critical.
"Under the Constitution, every citizen has the right to military service, but it turns out that not everyone can exercise his rights. This is a rupture of the constitutional rights" - lawmakers from Dagestan argue. However, expert of the Association of Military Analysts Alexander Perendzhiev believes that resolving the problem only by means of requests will not work. The difficulty lies in the fact that the MoD does not want to take unruly Dagestanis the service. "We know that Dagestanis can only be poorly controlled, they have problems with the execution of the order, so the leadership of Dagestan should adopt mechanisms for disciplining them. Their representatives, including MPs, should regularly review the conduct and discipline of recruits from the Republic. If young Dagestani violates it, he should be sent home. This will guarantee good service and provide a positive image of conscripts from Dagestan in the eyes of the military", Perendzhiev says.
The problem of poor control over Dagestani conscripts was also recognized by Magomedsalam Magomedov: "There are a lot of troubles with them, and they are not always willing to follow the statute." However, the head of the republic hopes to help Shoigu in this matter, although he did not find understanding with the former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov. After the meeting, the head of Dagestan and the new Minister of Defense made a decision - Shoigu promised to increase conscription quota for the autumn-spring call of the Republic in 2013 to four thousand people. Although the Russian Ministry of Defense has not taken the final decision yet, it is working on the request from Dagestan, the General Staff has been considering an increase in the recruitment rules of Dagestan. The delay is associated with the fact that set of activities related to the preparation of conscription for military service is carried out in the territory of Russia without any exceptions, and the number of recruits to be sent to the troops is determined by the immediate needs and the quality of resources.
"At present the campaign goes according to plan, in accordance with the quantitative standards approved earlier this year. Recruitment boards have already made a decision on the call for military service in respect of more than 80% of recruits, and more than 50% of citizens to be recruited in the autumn of 2012 have been sent to places of military service", the representative of the Ministry of Defense said. Up to 4000 people will go to the army from Dagestan in spring and autumn of next year. Then the normal conscription which operated until 2010 will return; 10 - 20 thousand people per year will be recruited.
