Calls for relook grow among defence aspirants, veterans
NEW DELHI: “If I am sent home after four years of service despite giving my best, I will be seen as an army reject for the rest of my life. Who will give employment to a rejected person? Tere ko nikaal dia fauj ne, tere mein kuchh kami hogi (People will say the army kicked you out, it must be because of your shortcomings),” said Manjeet Kumar, an army aspirant from Palra village near Jhajjar in Haryana.
Kumar is among the thousands of defence aspirants who plan to pour into the national capital on June 20 to protest the Agnipath model for the short-term induction of soldiers in the military and demand the scheme’s rollback.
“Even if I am employed in the police or paramilitary forces, I will still be seen as an army reject and considered a secondclass member of the organisation. The government should take a relook at the scheme and avoid rushed implementation. I don’t know of a single defence aspirant who is happy about this new model,” he added.
Agnipath, announced by the government on June 14, seeks to recruit soldiers for only four years with a provision to retain 25% of them for 15 more years after another round of screening.
It is expected to bring down the average age of a soldier in the armed forces from the current 32 years to 24-26 years over the next six to seven years.
Vikram Singh (27), who runs the Prayas Academy at Hisar in Haryana and grooms young men to join the army in the personnel below officer rank (PBOR) cadre, says Agnipath neither offers job security nor does it provide a decent financial package.
“Army mein bharti hone ke liye gareeb se gareeb ghar ka baccha jaata hai. (Only boys from the poorest of homes join the army as PBOR). He will start off with a monthly salary of ₹21,000 and end with a pay of ₹28,000 after the deduction towards the Agniveer corpus. He will return home after four years with a lump sum amount of ₹12 lakh. That money is hardly adequate if he doesn’t land up another job,” said Singh.
To be sure, the government has said that Agniveers will be absorbed on priority in other central security forces and be eligible for government jobs such as in the railways. The three service chiefs also mounted a defence of the recruitment model, arguing that it presented an opportunity to youth to serve the nation, and military service would equip them with skills for subsequent employment.
However, the assurances have cut no ice with defence aspirants such as Kumar and Singh who feel they have got short shrift from the government.
“There are around 250 boys in my academy, and all of them are dejected. An army career is the be-all and end-all of their life. The government must revise the scheme to increase the number of years in service, offer a better package and give explicit assurances on employment outside,” said Singh.
Soldiers recruited through the legacy recruitment system serve the armed forces for about 20 years before they retire in their late 30s with a pension. Only 25% of the Agniveers retained in service will get a pension.
Army chief General Manoj Pande said that the youth had perhaps not fully understood the contents and implications of Agnipath, and that led to apprehensions over the scheme. Once they understand, they will realise it is good for them, he added.
However, several veterans said the government must take a fresh look at the scheme before rolling it out, and address the concerns flagged by the defence aspirants.
The duration of service under Agnipath should be raised from four to eight years to give them “a fair chance” to demonstrate their capabilities, and there should be no ambiguity about the resettlement of Agniveers, said military affairs expert Lieutenant General Shokin Chauhan (retd).
“Four years is too little a time to assess these young men. A rifleman is promoted to lance naik after eight years of service. That model could be followed and those who do not make it to lance naik could be released. It’s important for a soldier to know why he did not make it, and where he stands in the system,” he added.
The far-reaching and hotly debated recruitment reform will change the composition of several British-era regiments that recruited soldiers from specific castes such as Jats, Rajputs and Sikhs and create an All-India, All-Class system.
The scheme has only been announced and not rolled out, said military affairs expert Lieutenant General Vinod Bhatia (retd). “It should be implemented in the first year as a pilot project and held in abeyance for the following three years. The pros and cons should be fully reviewed. The scheme can be implemented after it has been refined to address all issues,” he added.
Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar said deliberations over the model were carried out for two years. He added that the possibility of launching a pilot project was considered but was not pursued as it would have created two classes of recruits, led to issues related to pay and seniority, and opened the floodgates of litigation.