[anjan_c2007]

The "Agnipath" scheme to recruit soldiers aged between 17.5 to 21 years for four years service was in a proposal stage since the past weeks. These soldiers will be called as "Agniveers". It was officially launched yesterday by the Union Defence Minister in the presence of three service Chiefs and top defence officials. They will be recruited by the Army, Navy and Air Force.

The scheme provides a monthly five figure salary (Rs 30,000 going up to Rs 40,000) with yearly increments and allowances with facilities as admissible to regular soldiers only during service. The "Seva Nidhi" exit package is Rs 11.71 lakhs at the end of the tenure of four years. The recruitment term is for four years after which the incumbents will retire with a package and will be free to take up other jobs. A sum total of 25% of the recruits will be considered for permanent jobs as soldiers.

Since ages, the army, navy and air force have had a scheme of short service commission for selecting officers of 2/Lieutenant and Lieutenant (for engineering and medical graduates) posts wherein the incumbents are to serve for five years. Post five years considering their choice and eligibility some of them are granted permanent commission to continue in service till their superannuation.

This scheme for soldiers, airmen and sailors appears to be prima facie a short service commission for them. They enter as Lance Naiks and could be promoted as Naiks in their four years of service. Similarly for the two other services it will be the corresponding ranks.

Being the son of an army officer, with two brothers in the army (one a two star and other a three star General) I would be able to draw some conclusions about the efficacy of such a scheme. My wife held the rank of Captain till she quit her army job. Some points are discussed by me as an observer of the scenario from close quarters. Would also be happy to have views of other members to add to our understanding as we have quite many with defence connections in our forum.

The scheme is aimed at some future savings from an amount of Rs 1.19 lakh crores annually, that the Defence Ministry spends for pensions of retired defence personnel. Yes, in fact it will achieve this aim for sure, hitting the Bulls Eye.

Also lifelong medical facilities as applicable to permanent soldiers and dependents, post retirement will not be permissible for "Agniveers."

The defence forces personnel still have the old pension scheme and like the newer Central government employees recruited, post the turn of the millennium, are not a part of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

The first lacuna that can be pointed out in the scheme is job loyalty that will be lacking in most cases as the recruits will be always intrigued with "what next?" and job insecurity ruling prime in their minds. Only time will tell as to whether this will have long term effects on the morale and preparedness for emergencies and eventualities of the Indian Army, Air Force and Navy as a whole.

The second lacuna as pointed out by the media is that militarily trained, jobless youths, post four years of service will most likely have a dangerous repercussions on our internal security, as we cannot rule out some outlaws emerging.

Next, the scheme it reads will focus on a 100% Agniveer military force (only for soldiers, airmen and sailors and not officers) by 2035. There needs to be considerable deliberations by defence experts in this regard. It will eliminate soldiers from the ranks of Hawaldars and Subhedars (and equivalent ranks in other services) as all Agniveers it appears will be answerable to the commissioned officers only of ranks 2/Lieutenant and equivalent ranks and above. As I have personally observed that the young soldiers are very loyal to their seniors who are either non commissioned or junior commissioned officers (NCO's and JCO's). NCO's hold ranks of Hawaldar and Hawaldar Major while JCO's (Group B posts) hold ranks of Subhedar and Subhedar Major (corresponding ranks in other services). They usually rise from the rank of Lance Naiks (entry level) but can be direct recruits as Hawaldar (equivalent ranks in other services) in some branches. An example of their loyalty towards NCO's and JCO's who are the soldier's bosses came alive when I was driving a two wheeler with my Mrs in OG (olive green) as pillion in a cantonment area. A Subhedar who was on a scooter was being trailed by us. We passed by tens of uniformed soldiers coming from the opposite side on foot. Almost everyone was halting and saluting the Subhedar. Some saluted my Mrs. Upon reaching her unit to drop her, I asked her the reason for the tens of salutes for him and the few for her though she was a commissioned officer, she said that the Subhedar is their immediate boss.

The young recruits have a feeling of brotherhood with NCO's and JCO's who are their role models. Their dream in most cases is to retire as a Subhedar Major. Some are lucky to get commissioned as 2/Lieutenants and go upto the rank of Lieutenants. For other services its the equivalent ranks.

Hence, Agniveers could be a good scheme, but infusing 100% Agniveers as foot soldiers, airmen and sailors needs to be reconsidered. We have had Elvis Presley and Queen Elizabeth along with with with many other eminent and non eminent personalities serving their country's respective defence forces. They all had a short term recruitment tenures and as young citizens were in most cases compulsorily drafted into the military. Such short term drafting is very much proper to lend the experience of military life in youths. They however did not comprise a majority of the military forces' strength.

Let us hope we get more and more views about the pros and cons of the new Agnipath scheme.

(FORUM RULES NEED TO BE FOLLOWED FOR ALL POSTS)

The link:-

https://m.timesofindia.com/india/gov...w/92214121.cms

[Shreyans_Jain]

Not at all convinced with idea of all non officer recruitment being Agniveer only. It is one thing to try and reduce salary and pension burden. But we are talking about taking school kids, giving them lethal arms and combat training, and then basically dumping them after 4 years with no direct prospects for employment, no pension and not even any provisions for healthcare. How will these kids be constructively absorbed back into society?

They talk about retaining 25% Agniveers for another 15 years. Who decides which kid will make the cut and which will have to go? I fear this will become another avenue for institutionalised corruption and favouritism in a typically sarkaari fashion.

More importantly, I feel the attraction of ‘army job’ will die. This can have major long term implications for national security. You want kids to be ready to die for the country but are refusing to take care of them. That is basically wrong.

[srini1785]

I am not an army man but prima facie seems to be a move to save $$ on the long run. This savings would then be used to purchase those fighter jets and subs that the army so desperately needs. What use would a million men army have if your opponent has the latest tech gadgets?. That's the logic behind this move. So army would be a leaner more advanced unit. It makes some sense. So my .

[ninjatalli]

I had engineering batchmates who post their engineering degree, went and served their short service commission as that is what they wanted to do always. I also have had colleagues pursuing management degrees along with me, after completing their SSB timelines. From my limited interactions with such folks, they do have opportunities post their SSB. I am not sure if that would be the case for the "Agniveer" soldiers. I look forward to hearing from folks with much better understanding and visibility on this matter.

[sinharishi]

10+ kms of jam reported on NH48 near bilaspur chowk on Delhi Jaipur highway. Army aspirants are protesting against this scheme.

[dragracer567]

My two biggest concerns include:

1) The aforementioned chances of militarization of our society. As it is, the legions of jobless youths in our hinterlands already pose what I believe to be India's largest national security risk. Them being military trained will have significant repercussions to our society and national security.

2) Given that 25% of the agniveers would be retained and this would be decided by the CO, favoritism will run rampant - the most suitable candidate might not be the one who is selected.

That said, I do feel this is needed because:

1) The pension and salary costs are squeezing our defense budget. Despite having the world's third-largest defense budget, we are left wanting for hard cash to purchase capital assets like fighter jets, ships and submarines.

2) Modern military forces need to be lean and agile, the aim of the Indian armed forces is to secure our country, not to provide employment to jobless youth.

However, I do feel that the government should've run this as a pilot before mainstreaming it, there can always be intended consequences that we can't think of right now.

[ValarMorghulis]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

...But we are talking about taking school kids, giving them lethal arms and combat training, and then basically dumping them after 4 years with no direct prospects for employment, no pension and not even any provisions for healthcare. How will these kids be constructively absorbed back into society?
.

Originally Posted by dragracer567

My two biggest concerns include:

1) The aforementioned chances of militarization of our society. As it is, the legions of jobless youths in our hinterlands already pose what I believe to be India's largest national security risk. Them being military trained will have significant repercussions to our society and national security.

Pardon me, but I don't get this. Many countries already have compulsory military training for its citizens with no issues. Why do we presume this would be problematic for the Indian society?
Switzerland, Israel, South Korea, Russia, Greece, Brazil, etc. (& many others) have compulsory military training for their citizens.

The state government should clamp down on rioters properly. Don't want to be an Agniveer? Don't apply. What's with burning public property?

I support this decision (in a guarded fashion) since the money saved can help us get better weapons which can eliminate mortalities, but my knowledge in this aspect is quite limited.

That said, I agree with OP's opinion that 100% "foot soldiers, airmen and sailors needs to be reconsidered".

[sierrabravo98]

IMHO, the "Agnipath" will prove to be an excellent and transformative scheme provided that it is accompanied by some equally far reaching reforms in our Army's (and other services too but mostly the army) training structure and apparatus.

1.) Less than 20% of annual defense budget (which is more than 13% of total budget) is allocated towards CAPEX. The rest is eaten up by revenue expenditure and pension bills. The OROP (implemented in whatever diluted form) will only add to the pension bill. This is an unsustainable scenario. Back of the envelope calculations tell us that this Agnipath scheme can potentially bring down future pension bills (along with savings from CSD etc.) by 40-50%. That is thousands of crore more towards CAPEX every year.

2.) Reduction of average age of the ranks. Future security challenges will be better handled by a younger (yes the experience advantage will take a hit but that can be negated by technological upgradation) and more tech-savvy force.

3.) The Indian Armed Forces are incapable of tackling challenges preemptively as they demonstrated quite ably in Feb 2019 and May 2020 (and in Kargil and Op Parakram before). The upper echelon of the Armed Forces is not much different from the moribund bureaucrats who head other GoI departments in the sense that they are afraid of any change. This massive shakeup will hopefully be accompanied by rationalisation at the top too. This sort of thing can only be done by a political leadership with the requisite mandate.

4.) Most modern militaries on this planet have a similar contract system (including US, South Korea etc.) entailing 4-6 years of initial service and subsequent re-enlistment/extension of service. So the argument that Agniveers will not be able to handle modern military equipment falls flat on its face as NATO militaries operate equipment which will not operate for the next decade (yep, they are that much ahead).

5.) CAPFs and Police Forces will benefit from getting highly trained and disciplined Agniveers thus improving the quality and efficiency of our internal security apparatus.

6.) Agniveers will get a lumpsum of 11-12 lakhs on getting out at the age of 21-22. That is more than enough to get a fresh start in life (and more than what most of their civilian peers would have).

7.) Looking at the present world situation, we may need a large number of trained personnel very soon. This scheme is a step towards that direction.

About the protests, NOT one change (whether positive or negative) has been accepted in this country without protests. Even the LPG reforms of 1991 faced protests. Implementation of Mandal commission recommendations more so. That does not mean we back down. Change is the only thing which is constant. Retired Generals ought to accept it.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by ValarMorghulis

Pardon me, but I don't get this. Many countries already have compulsory military training for its citizens with no issues. Why do we presume this would be problematic for the Indian society?
Switzerland, Israel, South Korea, Russia, Greece, Brazil, etc. (& many others) have compulsory military training for their citizens.

Compulsory military training means a level field for everyone. What job skills will these 21-26 year old Agniveer retirees have for landing constructive jobs? Where will they stand against regular civilian kids who will have gone to college and have graduate, post graduate and professional degrees? These soldiers will not even be able to apply for bachelors program in an overwhelming majority of colleges, they would not be eligible. They will most likely be overage for police/constable recruitment as well.

Unless the government figures out a way to provide direct and assured employment opportunities, or maybe even admission into government colleges or ITIs for education and up-skilling, this will be a problem. There is a real possibility that their only avenues of employment after retirement are private security firms, militias or gangs. That is not desirable.

[mayukh42]

I also don't think militarisation of society is a risk. Proper training will teach when and against whom to use it, and will also proactively identify those mentally unstable.

Further, it is not that they will be given guns at the exit gates, nor can they buy it at the next grocery store (we know in some countries you can do so, even if you couldn't buy a cough syrup without prescription).

But I think this can harm the morale hence efficiency of the military. The focus of training to serve in the army with valor might be eclipsed (perhaps temporarily) by competition within the batchmates to get into the 25%, and the uncertainty of future among the remaining 75%.

I hope this proposal came from the army only, and not the legislature trying to save money.

I have couple of questions:

1. Would the remaining 75% be given a certificate that is equivalent to a college degree? This is a must I think, and it can largely resolve the concern above.

2. I might be missing something very obvious, but how exactly would this scheme result in pension savings? Those absorbed as regular cadres will still continue to have the existing benefits of an army personnel right?

[alpha1]

Since people are talking about proper job prospects for these (sorry for trivializing the scheme) "soldiers-for-hire / soldiers-on-contract" - what exactly are these?

The scheme will have applicants who are 17 years old - that means 12th pass: what does a typical 12th pass do in today's India? What job prospects he has, what kind of business he could set-up at 21-22 when he has been absent from civilian life for past 5 years?

Of course it is a free country and a person willing to join such a scheme has all the right to not be a part of the scheme - however most of the people joining these lowermost ranks would be coming from not so well to do families, especially rural, who have a limited view of future prospects (definitely true for the first few batches). I would hardly call this freedom of choice, when the person isn't aware of future consequences.

Additionally what happens when the contract-soldier is killed or injured in this period. Will the govt support him for entire life?
What if the injury leads to life-long disability or medical condition?
Are we (the taxpaying Indian civilian public) going to use and throw these "dispensable assets"?

[srini1785]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

.. But we are talking about taking school kids, giving them lethal arms and combat training, and then basically dumping them after 4 years with no direct prospects for employment, no pension and not even any provisions for healthcare. How will these kids be constructively absorbed back into society?

Originally Posted by dragracer567

1) The aforementioned chances of militarization of our society. As it is, the legions of jobless youths in our hinterlands already pose what I believe to be India's largest national security risk. Them being military trained will have significant repercussions to our society and national security.

As an analogy, we can say that there are a lot of IT engineers who spend their entire lifetime in IT industry learning skills that are enough to make them hackers but do they end up as one after retirement?. It just does not hold water.

Originally Posted by mayukh42

1. Would the remaining 75% be given a certificate that is equivalent to a college degree? This is a must I think, and it can largely resolve the concern above.

This is a valid point. So you work for 4 years and get a basic degree recognized by a university then the chances of recruitment into the regular system improves. Only as some members have pointed out what happens when you are disabled or killed in action. What compensation does the army provide?. If there are none then this is direct human rights abuse and would, no doubt, be challenged in courts.

I would say that OROP protests basically led to this.

[Mohitkumaar]

I think that this should be coupled with a degree from IGNOU which they should ideally finish along with the ToD!

We need the money very badly! I heard somewhere that almost 1/3 of defense budget is personnel cost of pay and pensions! Made my eyes pop-out!

With what is happening in Ukraine, the days of throwing people in line of fire as cannon fodder are laden. When I went for army attachment camp in 2001, i was shocked to see that army was still stuck in WW2 style practices! I was studying history hons and had studied a paper on WW2, it was like innovation simply stopped after the British left.

[condor]

Originally Posted by srini1785

Only as some members have pointed out what happens when you are disabled or killed in action. What compensation does the army provide?.

Such comments indicate that army does not have insurance / compensation coverage for affected personnel. Cant be further from truth.

Originally Posted by Mohitkumaar

I think that this should be coupled with a degree from IGNOU which they should ideally finish along with the ToD!

It's through National Institute of Open Learning. Not IGNOU.

[SoumenD]

17-21 is an age when we get degrees. I assume these Agniveers would get special privileges post retirement at 25 to pursue any course or job(age limit being relaxed for them) and maybe have designated quota as well. I would anyday root for such folks(who sacrificed 4 years for service) to have a quota rather than one based on caste/creed.