📋 Tender Overview
The Senate unanimously approved the bill, in its second reading, which provides for an incentive allocation for the fulfillment of compulsory military service in order to make voluntary participation more attractive.
Now it is time for the initiative to be submitted for the process of promulgation as a law of the Republic.
Senator Kenneth Pugh was in charge of presenting the report of the Defense Commission and explained that the decreasing participation of young people in mandatory military service has been a cause for concern in recent years. As a result of this, a working group was formed, made up of members of the Armed Forces, deputies and senators from various political sectors and representatives of the Executive.
The law proposes an increase in the “Military Service Incentive Allocation” which will increase the base salary of conscript soldiers by 50% during the first year of the law's validity, which will increase to 75% in the second year.
In turn, Senator Felipe Kast , president of the Finance Committee, said that this increase, along with other non-legal measures, will boost the interest of young people in compulsory military service, whose participation has declined significantly in recent years.
As an example, it was specified that a first-year soldier who does not have a zone assignment will go from an approximate allocation of $124,000 to receive $219,000, while one with a maximum zone assignment will go from receiving from $280,000 to $376,000. Meanwhile, in the case of second-year conscripts, the figures will increase from $131,000 to $231,000, and from $295,000 to $396,000, respectively.
Senator Juan Antonio Coloma praised the initiative because, “what this project does is maintain the sense of civic obligation and also understand that incentives are important to comply with the public policy of having a voluntary service.”
Senator Jaime Quintana agreed that “it was necessary to conduct this analysis to address the low levels of conscription due to the new training reality that exists for young people and to create other incentives.”
Senator Fabiola Campillai , in turn, called for concern “about what happens within the military service, because following the death of conscript Franco Vargas, there seems to be a culture of mistreatment.”
Senator Alejandra Sepúlveda emphasized the importance of moving towards a professional and specialized Army, but agreed that it is also necessary to "continue monitoring what happens inside military facilities with conscripts."
Senator Alejandro Kusanovic pointed out that “military service is a contribution to the state, as it not only affects defense but also the tremendous contribution that armed institutions make in the educational field.”
For her part, Defense Minister Maya Fernández expressed her gratitude for the support given to the initiative.
