Fix gaps in Agnipath

While launching the Agnipath Scheme on June 14, the Defence Ministry claimed it will enhance the youthful profile of the armed forces and provide a fresh lease of ‘Josh’ and ‘Jazba’ in the armed forces. The scheme envisages short-term recruitment of youth between 17.5 to 21 years of age into the armed forces.

The recruits, known as Agniveers, will be enrolled on ‘All-India, All-Class’ basis as soldiers for four years. This year, the government plans to recruit 46,000 Agniveers and the hiring will repeat every six months. This, the ministry claims, will reduce the average age of serving personnel from 32 years to 26. The recruits will undergo military training for a maximum of six months after which they will be deployed for the remaining three-and-a half years. They will be paid Rs 30,000 in the first year which will be revised to Rs 40,000 in the fourth year. But 75 percent of them have to leave the force after the term and they will not be entitled to pension and gratuity.All they will get at the time of exit is a lump sum of Rs 11.71 lakh.

It was no coincidence that the Defence Ministry announced the scheme on the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed various departments and ministries to create 10 lakh jobs in the next 18 months. The deadline ends four months before the next general elections in 2024.

The actual aim of the Agnipath scheme is said to be reducing salaries and pensions and to divert the resources for military modernisation. For, the amount spent on pensions in the Army, Navy and Air Force has grown manifold during the last decade.

According to the Union Budget, the government had spent Rs 37,333 crore on pensions in 2010-11 and, in just 10 years, the amount ballooned to Rs 128,041 crore in 2020-21. Many defence experts criticised the Agnipath scheme as they feared that it would lower the morale of the armed forces. They argued the government should be concerned more about safeguarding national security and not on slashing salary and pension bills.

The Agnipath scheme has also raised concerns of Army job seekers who fear that they will be rendered jobless four years after serving the country. They resorted to protests in many parts of the country immediately after the government announced the programme.

The protests first started in Bihar where aspirants blocked roads and railway tracks. They set a train on fire and torched a bus. The Railways cancelled around two dozen trains and shortened routes for others. Youths turned violent in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. It spread to South India on Friday and one person died and eight others were injured at Secundarabad railway station after police opened fire at protesters.

The anxiety of youngsters is understandable because they have to put in huge efforts to land an Army job, which before Agnipath, had carried enormous respect and financial security. In the absence of resources to ace other competitive exams, youth belonging to rural areas find it easier to tackle physical and medical tests and thus focus on doing well in them. In almost every village in rural India, groups of youngsters can be seen either running or doing rigorous exercises early in the morning and late in the evening with the sole aim of cracking the physical test.

Experts also pointed out that the exit of 75 percent of the draftees every year (40,000 Agniveers) will gradually lead to militarisation of the society, which does not augur well for the Indian democracy. The government appears to have shown an inordinate hurry in implementing Agnipath without proper study and pilot projects. It should immediately fix the gaps and address the concerns of the youngsters before implementing the scheme.