Its been now two days since Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced the Agnipath scheme for recruitment and career opportunities in the Indian armed forces.
Its now high time we analyse as to what this scheme is all about and how would it impact the armed forces.
Before we analyse lets have a look at what it entails ;
One. The soldiers recruited through this scheme will be called as AGNIVEERS. They would be between the age group of 17.5 and 21 years . THIS SCHEME IS NOT FOR OFFICERS .
Two. They will undergo a training of SIX months and thereafter serve for three and half years.
Three. Out of these only 25% will be retained and rest will be discharged.
Four. On completion of tenure they will be paid Rs 11.71 lakhs which will be tax free and given a priority in employment in Central reserved Police etc.
Five. The Army's recruitment process for the Agnipath scheme will be the same as it was earlier and no compromises will be made in educational and physical standards .
Six. The recruited persons will be paid a monthly remuneration of Rs 30,000 with a fixed annual increment.
Seven ," Lieutenant General KK Repswal, Chief of Staff Eastern Command said. “, the recruitment for the Agniveer programme in the Indian Army will start in the next three months, after which they will go for a four-year service .
Eight. Agniveers would form a distinct rank, different from any other existing rank and will be assigned tasks based on the organizational requirement.
Nine. Recruitment will be done on All India basis.
Ostensibly the serving officers called this as a fabulous initiative and a 'transformative' induction programme, But the retired Officers have been skeptical about it. Some calling it absolutely rubbish and some been careful in their remarks. So, one can understand the compulsions of the SERVING officers.
Former Army chief General (retd.) Ved Prakash Malik thanked Union Home Minister Amit Shah for the announcement that the recruits, after completing their four-year tenure, would be given priority for induction in the Central Armed Police Forces and Assam Rifles. He tweeted: “ Agniveer induction has to be based on the annual number of retirees plus deficiencies, if any. This is a small number at unit level. It will be a slow induction process.”
Air Vice Marshal (retd.) Manmohan Bahadur said: “The Agnipath scheme has been the subject of animated debates about its pros and cons. One only hopes that its implications have been thought through well beyond just the issue of cutting down the pension load on the defence budget. There would be many operational fallouts that would need to be tackled without compromising the deterrence and fighting capabilities of the forces”.
Former Northern Army Commander Lieutenant-General (retd.) D.S. Hooda told The Hindu: “Obviously, like any other scheme, there are some advantages... Junior leaders would get better, the government will save on the budget expenses. There are certain challenges as well, of people having apprehensions about the training period; whether the ethos would be strong enough; morale, motivation would be as strong as that of those who serve for a longer period of time.”
“We have to see how to make the scheme a success, let's wait for the first four years, then review, and go back to the government with recommendations. There is a need to adopt a balanced approach,”
Major General (retd.) G.D. Bakshi said: “Was flabbergasted by the Agniveer scheme. I thought initially it was a trial being done on a pilot basis. This is an across the board change to convert Indian armed forces to a short tenure quasi-conscript force like the Chinese. For God’s sake, please don’t do it.”
Lieutenant-General (retd.) Zameer Uddin Shah described the Agnipath scheme as a “retrograde step” and “the most detrimental measure inflicted on armed forces”. “With a year spent on training and six months on pre-release formalities, the soldier will get only 2.5 years to serve which is inadequate to inculcate regimental ethos, affiliation, and discipline,” said the veteran, who retired as the Deputy Chief of the Army Staff (Personnel and Systems). On the view that it could offer employment opportunities, he told The Hindu, “You can’t choose welfare at the cost of the Army’s discipline and regimentation. It is these qualities that have helped us in winning wars.” He recalled an Army maxim, “If it works, don’t fiddle with it.” The veteran said the bulk of retired officers felt that the “step was taken without adequate forethought and consultation with the stakeholders.”
Lieutenant-General (retd.) Vinod Bhatia, the former director of Joint Warfare Studies, described it as a “death knell for armed forces”. He said, “No pilot project, straight implementation. Will also lead to militarisation of society.”
Having read through the above comments we get a sense of the scheme and so following emerges ;
One. The scheme was not discussed with all the stake holders. To an extent that the Govt did not even discuss with its own minister Gen VK Singh who while responding to a media query, said " he was not involved in formulating the scheme and that he did not know much about it and things would be clear after it was implemented on the ground."
Two. Such an initiative which would have an impact on armed forces operational efficiency / effectiveness should have been thoroughly discussed in the armed forces itself, opinions of Commanding officers and other field commanders should have been taken because it is they who have to employ these recruits. Usually, any such deep rooted policy change is discussed in various forums within the army before its implementation.
Three. The Govt says that this would create a much more youthful and technically adept war fighting force by ensuring a fine balance between youthful and experienced personnel. This gives rise to following questions ;
Firstly. Was this not achievable by any other means ?
Secondly. Could we have not made some amendments in the current recruitment policy to get technology savvy youth, instead of fiddling with the whole system that may have deep rooted impact on Armed forces effectiveness.
Thirdly. If the educational and physical criteria remains the same, then How would they get Technology savvy youth?
Four. The focus therefore, is clearly not on creating a young force but on reduction of Pension Bill and something else.Only the Govt would be able to answer about this Hidden Objectives
Five. For last two years there has not been any recruitment due to covid and there would be a large number of vacancies in armed forces and many thousands therefore, would have been waiting for the recruitment process to commence. So, we need to understand following ;
Alpha . India is a country where people want permanent jobs and fixed salaries. They abhor Contractual work.
Bravo. We do not have a concept, even in private sector where people are paid on hourly basis , my experience has been that People even discard the option of variable pays based on performance even if it is more lucrative than fixed pay option.
Charlie. This system of recruitment for four years may lead to frustration amongst the rural youth and no wonder, a large number of aspirants for a job in the armed forces blocked roads and railway tracks in different parts of Bihar to lodge a protest against the new scheme. One aspirant said “ We have passed the physical examination and are waiting for the written examination. Now, the Centre has said that recruitment will take place only for four years. The Centre is playing with the future of the youths. What will we do after four years,"
No wonder, The students burnt the effigies of Prime Minister and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
The Govt therefore needs to answer ; WHERE WAS THE HURRY? WHY COULD THEY NOT TAKE THE OPINION OF ALL STAKE HOLDERS?
Six. As the AGNIVEERS will be selected on All India basis, it is natural that one would get men from all parts. Imagine what would be the plight of those handful of men when they are sent to Madras regiment, Sikh regiment, Jat Regiment, Rajputs, Punjab, etc. We in army have a strong regimental system, the war cry, the ethos, the role models and Heroes are different for different Regiments.
Seven. A unit may get almost 30-35 AGNIVEERS every year , so over a period of 10 years , it will have more than 100 Agniveers, almost a rifle company size. This is the time when the real impact would be felt in the unit. If the objective of the Govt is to break this regiment system , then my view is based on two popular maxims ;
WHY FIDDLE WHEN EVERYTHING IS WORKING WELL.
Don’t change the winning combination.
Because more often than not when we fiddle too much and change the winning combination, things do not go well.
Seven. Every armed forces officer has emphasized that It takes almost 2 years of rigorous training to convert a recruit into a trained soldier and it is training that gives the soldier, the necessary confidence to fight the enemy. There is a famous quote also on this aspect written all over the army training areas;
THE MORE YOU SWEAT IN PEACE THE LESS YOU BLEED IN WAR.
Its criminal to put a Novice in a Boxing ring to fight a Professional Boxer.
These Agniveers by the time become trained, they will be on their way out and concerned about their Post Discharge Job prospects. Ask any retiree as to what was going in his mind a YEAR PRIOR TO HIS RETIREMENT? And the Govt will get the answer. We have a recent example of Russian army whose young contractual recruits ran away leaving the battle field and suffered casualties.
In four years , nothing much can be achieved.
So, the question needs to be answered by the Govt ;
Are you sending people to armed forces to make armed forces efficient or are trying to Militarise the society.
Eight. Moreover, a person on contract cannot be expected to fight to the last round. His morale and his motivation may not be up to the desired standard and be like those who serve longer and have worked, sweated and bled for the IZZAT of the Unit.
Nine. Why could the Govt not implement similar scheme in Para military forces ? Should they not have started this initiative from Central Police organisations ?
Ten. Now that the Govt is assuring these youngmen that they will be given a Bachelor's Degree on compeletion of Four years tenure and may come up with more such allurments. The question then arises that an Agniveer who is more worried about his Post retirement benefits WHAT KIND OF A SOLDIER HE WOULD BECOME. I don't think He will be of any use to armed forces.
Eleven. Its worth enquiring as to what kind of jobs are given to Infantry or Armoured or Artillery jawans / Havildars in the job market who go out of army pretty early , approx around 35 years of age. What is the Value that the Job market accords to the skills of an infantry man ; Most of them are appointed as Security Guards. So, what would be the value of this DEGREE from IGNOU to an AGNIVEER who has spent Three and Half years with Combat units.
Needless to emphasise HE WOULD BE NEITHER HERE NOR THERE.
Conclusion
In view of the above, it appears prima facie that this Govt is not in a habit of consulting with stake holders and believes in shoving reforms and policies down the throat of people like it did with other initiatives ; DEMONETISATION which now in retrospect was a big failure, CAA legislation which is now on the shelves, Farm laws taken back, abrogation of article 370 lying pending with the courts.
Although armed forces are a disciplined lot so there is not likely to be any violent protests by the veterans but the fact of the matter is ;
This initiative should have been taken as a Pilot project and reviewed regularly so that NO PERMANENT DAMAGE IS CAUSED TO THE WORLD’S FINEST FGHTING ORGANISTAION ; THE INDIAN ARMED FORCES.
Secondly, its high time we in India realize that Armed forces job should not be compared to any other job in the market. Its a Job that can not be regarded as a TOUR.
Fighting is a highly skilled job, aptly described by Gen Patton;
“You can not win a war by getting killed, You got to kill the other Bastard.” and that requires skills -hell of a lot of skills.
Sun Tzu also emphaises on the Skills , he sad ;
What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.” and that can happen only when the soldier is well trained and skilful.
Thirdly, It may so happen that the society may get militarised but ts armed forces may get ruined in the bargain. Choice is to be made by Policy makers.
Fourthly. The Govt needs to find out from Corporate sector - Can every job be Out sourced to Contractual Staff? Could they have not started this scheme with Technical arms and support services like ; EME, Signals, Engineers, ASC etc.
Five. There will not be any recruitment for Permanent positions for next Four years atleast and as per the Vice Chief's words Indian army by 2030 will have 50 % of its strength occupied by AGNIVEERS. Do we really understand its IMPLICATIONS on our Security.
Lastly, the name of the Rank – Agniveer, itself reflects that it is not the brain child of Armed forces and has a political origin.