Discussions on a one-month basic reserve service are still going on in Tajikistan.  

Today, the main issue is the side of the fee for the one-month basic reserve service.  A source within the Ministry of Defense (MoD) has told Asia-Plus that the preliminary fee for the one-month basic reserve service is set at 25,000 somonis.  

“However, this amount is not the final one.  The government is expected to take the final decision on the size of the fee for one-month basic reserve service before the end of this month,” the source said, noting that the final size will be made public at a press conference in late March.  

Recall. Tajikistan’s lower chamber (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament on January 20 endorsed the law on the universal military duty in new edition.

Presenting the bill to lawmakers, Defense Minister Sherali Mirzo noted that only 10 percent of eligible young people are enlisted to do military service each year.

According to him, a one-month basic reserve service will be organized for a certain fee for those who did not perform conscript service.  “At the end of basic reserve service they will receive military cards,” the defense minister said.   

Officials with a MoD are convinced that the new law on military service will create an alternative for citizens how and in what manner they could fulfill their duty to the Motherland and facilitate to decreasing the number of draft evaders.    

Representatives of the Defense Ministry also note that the law on the universal military duty in new edition will reduce the cases of corruption in the country.

MoD representatives say the practice of seizing young men in streets and markets and sending them into military service known as “oblava” will also be eliminated due to the new law on military service.  “Oblava” has been a common practice in Tajikistan for years.  

According to the Ministry of Defense, 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.

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 Ground Forces, Mobile Forces (paratroopers of the armed forces of Tajikistan), Air Force and Air Defense Force.