DUSHANBE, August 10, 206, Asia-Plus – The Ministry of Defense (MoD) proposes to cut the length of regular service from 2 years to 1½ years, an official source at a MoD told Asia-Plus in an interview with Asia-Plus.
“A draft law proposing amendments to the country’s law on the universal military service was submitted for consideration to the ministry about a year ago,” the source said.
Recall that in a report released at a news conference in Dushanbe, the then Deputy Minister of Justice, Abdumannon Kholiqzoda, noted on July 23, 2014 that a working group has been set up to draft a new edition of the law on the universal military service.
“There is a proposal to cut the length of regular service from 24 months to 18 months,” Kholiqzoda said, adding that there is also a proposal to abolish deferment of military service for students at vocational and technical schools.
According to the Ministry of Defense, every year, some 15,000-16,000 young Tajik men are drafted into the country’s armed forces.
Currently, 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 (April-May) and in the autumn (October-November). The draft affects able-bodied male citizens in the age bracket of 18 years old to 27 years old who are not members of the armed forces reserve.
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.
Tajikistan”s armed forces consist of Land Forces, Mobile Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces, National Guard, and Security Forces (internal and border troops).
