In January this year, 450 Tajik young men took a paid one-month basic reserve service paying a total of more than 11.3 million somonis, Faridoun Mahmadalizoda, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense of Tajikistan, told Asia-Plus in an interview.
According to him, they took a one-month basic reserve service after transferring 25,200 somonis (equivalent to 2,040 U.S. dollars) each to the bank account of the Defense Ministry opened at Amonatbonk (Tajikistan’s savings bank).
“285 young men from the Khatlon province took the basic reserve course at the Fakhrobod training ground, located in the Khatlon province, and 165 young men from the Sughd province took the basic reserve course at the Choroukdaron training ground located in the Sughd province,” Mahmadalizoda noted.
Young men from Khatlon, Sughd, and Dushanbe take the one-month basic reserve course in their regions.
Young men from districts subordinate to the center take the one-month basic reserve course in Dushanbe and young men from the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) take the one-month basic reserve course in the Khatlon province.
The Defense Ministry has said the fees are spent on bettering living conditions for the recruits.
It to be noted that under amendments that were made to the country’s law on military service in early 2021 and came into effect on February 4, 2021, young men in Tajikistan who wish to forgo the military service may now do so by paying a fee of 25,200 somonis to the government. The one-month basic reserve service is organized for those who did not perform conscript service for a fee. At the end of basic reserve service they receive military cards.
Besides, under the law on the universal military duty in new edition, graduates of universities having military department will also be drafted into the army for one year.
Only people who have done military service will be permitted to obtain employment with the government or join the army in a professional capacity.
Meanwhile, Jovid Pirzoda, a lawyer to the Defense Ministry, says recruitment of citizens for paid military service is carried out within the established quota.
“For example, the one-month basic reserve service quota for Dushanbe’s Sino district is set at 25 people,” Pirzoda noted.
Persons who took the one month basic fee are not permitted to join the army and the law enforcement agencies in a professional capacity, but they have the right to obtain employment within the government.
The two-month-long effort seeking to enlist young men aged 18-27 for the one- or two-year compulsory military service takes place twice a year in Tajikistan — in the spring and in the autumn.
Young Tajiks can avoid or postpone military service if they are ill, studying at university, an only son, or if they have two children.
