DUSHANBE, July 23, 2014, Asia-Plus — A working group has been set up to draft a new edition of the law on conscription and military services, Deputy Minister of Justice, Abdumannon Kholiqzoda, announced at a news conference in Dushanbe on July 23.
“There is a proposal to cut the length of regular service from 2 years to 1½ years,” said the deputy minister. “There is also a proposal to abolish deferment of military service for students at vocational and technical schools,” said Kholiqzoda. “Many conscript-age young men enter the vocational and technical schools to avoid military service. At present there are 56,000 students at vocational and technical schools in the country and only 10 or 20 percent of them attend lessons.”
“Besides, there is also a proposal to accept for public service only after military service,” the deputy minister said, noting that practically all members of the working group have seconded that proposal. “The majority of members of the working group consider that those who want to join public service must serve in the army.”
Kholiqzoda further added that the law on conscription and military services in new edition would appear at the beginning of the next year.
According to the Ministry of Defense (MoD), every year, some 15,000-16,000 young Tajik men are drafted into the country’s armed forces. The two-month-long effort seeking to enlist young men aged 18-27 for the two-year compulsory military service takes place twice a year, in the spring and in the autumn.
Some sources say more than 600,000 young men in Tajikistan are eligible for military service, but some 150,000 of them have received draft deferments or are exempted from the military service and some 100,000 other conscript-age young Tajiks are outside the country in search of a living.
Young Tajiks can avoid or postpone military service if they are ill, studying at university, an only son, or if they have two children.
