Nearly half of Indian states are seething as youth protest against the Agnipath scheme—a controversial Indian military recruitment policy that not only aims to reduce the country’s burgeoning salary and pension bills, but also seeks to integrate younger and fitter troops into its armed forces.
The policy is applicable to the Air Force, Navy, and Army and was approved recently by the Cabinet Committee on Security headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It will take effect immediately.
Soldiers recruited through this process will be referred to as ‘Agniveers.’ Around 46,000 troops are expected to be recruited this year.
However, the scheme has been met with severe criticism from aspirants and experts.
Agnipath Scheme is a recruitment process undertaken by the Indian armed forces where youths between the ages of 17-and-a-half and 21 years would be inducted for a four-year tenure while 25 per cent of the recruits will be retained for regular service.
The upper age limit has now been increased to 23 only for this year due to two-year hiring hiatus that took place following the Covid pandemic.
The new recruitment scheme of soldiers in the Army, Navy and Air Force has been projected by the government as a major overhaul of the decades-old selection process to enhance the youthful profile of the three services.
After the scheme was rolled out, the Army said it would ensure an enhanced youthful profile of the force and result in a “reduction in the average age from 32 to 26 years over a period of time.
The Agniveers will get a monthly salary of Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000, with the 75% of them who get demobilised after four years getting a ‘Seva Nidhi’ exit package of Rs 1.71 million, half of which will be through their own contributions.
The remaining 25 per cent will be inducted into the regular cadres of the armed forces to serve another 15 years.
According to WIOM news, “For years, India’s defence budget has heavily tilted towards the revenue component, leaving less funds to buy weapons and modernisation of armed forces with cutting-edge technologies.
Similarly, salary paid to the forces has also been increasing over the years.
With the new scheme, the government aims to slash the ballooning salary and pension bills, which take up almost half of the annual defence budget. The government hopes to have more money for military modernisation with infusion of cutting-edge technologies.
The ploughing back of skilled, disciplined, motivated and patriotic Agniveers into civil society after the four-year military service, would prove to be a great asset and a “win-win proposition” for the nation, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said.
So why are people protesting?
The primary concern among the protesters is that most recruits will be limited to four years of service, making 75% of them ineligible for pensions.
It is also being criticised for failing to provide recruits with permanent jobs or healthcare benefits after they retire.
According to the news agency PTI, Lieutenant General Vinod Bhatia (retired) believes the Agnipath scheme, also known as the Tour of Duty (ToD) scheme, will spell the end of the armed forces.
“ToD was not tested, there was no pilot project, and it was simply implemented. Will also lead to the militarization of society, with almost 40,000 (75%) youth returning year after year, rejected and dejected, semi-trained in arms ex-Agniveers. This is not a good idea. No one benefits.”
The opposition parties chastised the government, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi urging the prime minister to listen to the voice of unemployed youth and not take ‘agnipareeksha (trial by fire)’ of their patience by making them walk on Agnipath.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav called the move “negligent” and potentially “fatal” for the country’s future.
Communist Party (Maoist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said, “The Agnipath scheme does disservice to national interests. This scheme, to save pension money, severely compromises quality and efficiency of our professional armed forces.”
CPI general secretary D Raja said, “Finding jobs has become literally a path of fire under Modi.”
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appealed to the Centre to give the youth the chance to “serve the country throughout their life”.
