This year, Tajik young men who want to take a paid one-month basic reserve service must pay 26,800 somonis as a calculating indicator (estimate) has been raised.

The RT Law “On the National Budget for 2022”, in particular, notes that the calculating indicator rises 6.7 percent beginning on January 1, 2022 and now it amounts to 64.00 somonis.

Last year, the calculating indicator was set at 60.00 somonis.

To take the paid one-month basic reserve service, Tajik young men must pay an amount equivalent to 450 calculating indicators.

Last year, this amount was 25,200 somonis, while this year, it is 26,800 somonis.  The fees are reportedly spent on bettering living conditions for the recruits.

According to the Ministry of Defense (MoD), 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. 

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 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.