Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 15: The Narendra Modi government’s well thought-off radical recruitment plan for the armed forces named “Agnipath” has received strong criticism from many quarters with protests breaking out in various parts of the country as youngsters accusing the government of making a “fool of them.”
Protests broke out in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur and Buxar on Wednesday with several protesters asking what they would do after four years. Gulshan Kumar from Bihar said, “Merely four years of service will mean we will have to study for other jobs after that, and be left behind others of our age.”
Another aspirant Shivam Kumar echoed many of those who prepare for Army recruitment drives for years. “I have been running and preparing myself physically for two years now. Will I now take up a job that’s just for four years?” he asked.
The new recruitment plan aims to cut down government’s massive salary and pension bills and free up funds for arms procurement. Under the scheme, about 45,000 people between the age of 17.5 years and 21 years will be inducted into the services for a four-year tenure. During this period, they will be paid a monthly salary between ₹ 30,000-40,000 plus allowances. They will also be entitled to medical and insurance benefits. After four years, only 25 per cent of these soldiers will be retained and they will go on to serve for a full 15 years in non-officer ranks. The remaining will exit the services with a package between ₹ 11 lakh – ₹ 12 lakh, but won’t be eligible for pension benefits.
The new policy has drawn criticism and questions from several quarters, including a section of veterans. Critics have argued that a four-year tenure would hit fighting spirit in the ranks and can also make them risk-averse.
The Ex-servicemen associations in Punjab and Haryana have hit out at the Agnipath scheme saying it was akin to playing with the career of the youth and cautioned the government against “experimenting with the Army”.
Many ex-servicemen who have served as jawans disapprove the plan to hire soldiers for four-year terms and retain only 25 per cent of the intake for full pensionable service. District president of the Ex-Servicemen Welfare Union in Faridkot, retired havildar Premjit Singh Brar said the Agnipath scheme was akin to raising a “private army” and that the youth would not be interested in four-year stints.
“This is a wrong move. No one will be interested in joining the Army on these terms and conditions. It is like raising a private army. If someone dies on the border, they say they will only give him fixed compensation and that his family will not get any pension or any benefit. Why should anyone be willing to die under these circumstances?” said Brar.
Brar said his union had already held a meeting to discuss Agnipath and rejected it in totality. “A trained soldier will be let loose in society after four years of service. The society is already plagued by gangsterism. What if these jobless, arms-trained youth join the gangsters? This is a ‘ghatiya scheme’. Who joins the Army as a jawan? A poor person whose family owns only two or two and a half acres of land. If he will be on the roads after four years, why will he join the Army,” he questioned.
Subedar and honorary captain Darshan Singh, a member of the Indian Ex-Services Union in Moga, also feels that the Agnipath scheme is ‘totally wrong’. “I am a sapper (corps of engineers). In four years a new recruit barely learns the tools of his trade. Every day new equipment is being introduced in the Army. This means a soldier will have hardly learnt how to handle the equipment before it will be time for him to leave. The government is not doing the right thing. First stop your own pensions before you stop the pensions of Armymen,” he said.
Darshan was of the view that the youth will be reluctant to join the defence services under Agnipath. “Who will fight at the border if the compensation is not enough? These youngsters will be hired for a pittance in factories when they come out of the Army after four years. Their lives will be destroyed,” he said.
According to Captain Shamsher Singh Malik, president of the Progressive Ex-Servicemen Federation of India–based out of Rohtak, Haryana–Agnipath is a “moorkhtapurn faisla” (a foolish decision) as the scheme has neither been tried and tested nor adequately researched. A former short-service commission officer who had to leave the Army after ten years of service because he was not given a permanent commission, Capt Malik said the scheme was loaded against the youth.
“The future of the youth is being played with. This is a joke being played with the youth. There will not be any proper regimentation in units. I cannot imagine how this decision could have been taken. The only reason was that the government does not want to pay pensions,” he said.
Jitender Bhadawar, a 23-year-old from Barwala, Haryana, has lost his chance to join the Army as he is now overage and no Army recruitment has taken place for the past two years. “They have changed all the rules. The enthusiasm for the Army will now be less. Earlier boys would prepare for five years in advance to join the Army. Why will they now do so for only four years of service?
Among the veterans, Major General BS Dhanoa (retired) tweeted, “Two serious recommendations to the just announced recruitment policy for the armed forces; a. Increase the service period of new recruits to a min of seven years b. Make the retention of those keen to serve longer at least 50 percent.”
Senior Army officer Major General Yash Mor urged that the armed forces should not be looked at from an economic point of view. “Military life and career can’t be evaluated from money saved to the exchequer,” he tweeted.
On the government’s side, Union Minister and former Army chief General VK Singh, when asked about the scheme, said that he does not have much information on this but added that a picture will not be clear till the scheme is implemented.
Some ex-servicemen, however, felt that the scheme could positively contribute to the extent that 75 per cent of the youths released after four years stint in the army would continue to maintain a disciplined life and help discipline the society at large and would contribute in maintaining social equilibrium during difficult times.
