Editorial: Repeating the mistakes
The continued protests over the Agnipath scheme, a short-term contractual employment in the armed forces, reflect poorly on the NDA government’s style of policy making, amounting to repeating the mistakes made in the case of farm laws. In both the cases, the decisions were taken in haste and sought to be thrust upon people without […]
The continued protests over the Agnipath scheme, a short-term contractual employment in the armed forces, reflect poorly on the NDA government’s style of policy making, amounting to repeating the mistakes made in the case of farm laws. In both the cases, the decisions were taken in haste and sought to be thrust upon people without any consultation process. Though touted as historic reform in the recruitment policy for armed forces, the Agnipath has left the country’s youth disgruntled and triggered widespread unrest. Large scale violence has broken out in many parts of India, particularly in States like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Haryana which contribute a sizable manpower to the defence forces. What has disappointed the youth aspiring to become soldiers in the Army, Navy and Air Force is that out of those recruited, only 25% would actually continue in the Armed Forces. The remaining 75% of the recruits will retire after four years of service without any rank and without any pension. Rattled by the widespread outrage, the Centre has announced some concessions and incentives that will assist the retirees in their further employment, including 10% quota for Agniveers in the paramilitary forces and defence public sector units and a three-year age relaxation beyond the prescribed upper age limit. The number of volunteers being recruited under the scheme would rise from 46,000 volunteers in each of the first four years, to 90,000 volunteers in the fifth year, and to 1.25 lakh in the sixth year. Following the implementation of the scheme, the soldier’s average age will come down to 26 years from 32 years.
A major objective of the scheme is to bring down the average age of military personnel and cut ballooning salary and pension bills. It is designed to enable a younger profile for the armed forces. If the government had held prior consultations with state governments, veterans of armed forces, youth groups and training institutions and implemented it in a phased manner based on consensus, the scheme would have found better acceptance. It was the lack of consensus-building approach that led to the loss of face for the Centre in the case of farm laws, which were eventually withdrawn. In view of the strong objections being raised by a section of the military experts and the opposition parties, the Centre must press the pause button, hold wide consultations with all the stakeholders and modify the scheme to instill confidence among the youth. The government must consider the suggestions made by the military veterans to make the scheme more effective and attractive. They include increasing the contract period for new recruits beyond four years, absorbing 50% of the recruits for the permanent commission instead of the proposed 25% and continuing with the existing regular enrolment for a few more years before gradually switching to Agnipath.
