Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it.
It flies with the breath of each soldier who is protecting the integrity and sovereignty of our motherland.
The power of the nation is strengthened by the indomitable spirit and courage of her armed forces.
The ultimate privilege of serving and protecting the country can not be compared to any other honour and young boys and girls dream and work hard to join the coveted armed forces.
On Jun 14, the government of India introduced a new scheme – AGNIPATH, which fundamentally transforms the process of recruitment of soldiers below the rank of commissioned officers into the three services of the armed forces.
Each one of us know by now that under this scheme, the recruits – AGNIVEERS, will be employed for 4 years, after which upto 25% of them will be selected for enrolment in the regular cadre; while the rest will get back to civilian life.
I would like to point out here that in our country, being in the armed forces gives you a sense of pride, power and honour. And my first concern about this scheme arises from this reality.
A young adult in mid-twenties, who has been trained as an Agniveer would suddenly feel powerless, that too at a time when he/she is full of energy and vigour. I do fear that these individuals with the best of training and knowledge might become an ideal recruit for anti-social groups within and outside the country. Though many state governments as well as corporates/ private players have stepped up and stated that the youth who had served in the Armed Forces would be given jobs in government as well as corporate industries, but it would fall short of providing them the honour of being an armed forces personnel and the power associated with it. I would request the government to deliberate on this aspect and think of appropriate ways to engage the Agniveers, so that they truly become an asset to the nation.
While devising any policy, we need to remember our country is different from Singapore or Israel; and we can not afford to imitate their models.
Our demography and social structure is unique and therefore our schemes have to be in sync with our social realities.
I strongly believe that if we provide our Agniveers with the right skills (which is bound to happen because the armed forces provide world class training to all the recruits), discipline and engage them positively; Agniveers will prove to be a boon to the country in case of a two-front war or any such emergency. These Agniveers will be an additional force, fully trained by our forces and battle ready, which can supplement our existing cadres in a situation of war.
With this faith, my focus would be to have a discussion on the new training modules (which has been reduced to 6 months from 1 year) to ensure that agniveers are trained into competent armed personnel to turn a recruit into a soldier who can fit in and function well within a unit; and to inculcate in them the ethos of the armed forces.
If we are able to achieve the said objectives, Agnipath scheme will be instrumental in achieving an age balance in the military (the average age going down from 32 to 26), with a younger population which is tech-savvy and therefore more capable of handling new kinds of modern equipments.
However, this has to be again seen with caution. A lot of resources (time, effort and money) will go in training the young recruits to operate modern day equipments and just when they are ready to handle them in their own individual capacity independently, atleast 75% are retired from the services. This needs to be pondered upon too while finalising the training curriculum.
I would also suggest considering a similar scheme for recruiting non-commissioned staff into the armed forces, from amongst the youth after completion of their graduation. This would provide graduates an opportunity to serve their motherland.
There has been a lot of debate and protests in view of the limited perks, no provision for pension and absence of other benefits being provided to Agniveers. These may be genuine concerns of our youth and the government must have an open discussion with the people to allay their fears. However, I would like to request my young brothers and sisters, who have been protesting against the scheme, to maintain peace while showing their dissent. Violence can never be justified in any case.
As citizens of this great nation, we must all remember, we have a responsibility towards our country. Any harm to nations property, nations life and nations image due to these violent protests will be detrimental for each one of us in the long run and as responsible members of the society, it is our duty to protect our motherland.
The stated objective of Agnipath scheme is to energise the armed forces (by recruiting a young population) but it will also be instrumental in reducing the salary and pension budget and thereby provide the armed forces some extra resources in hand to increase the capital expenditure to modernise the 3 forces.
I am confident that with minor amendments and proper implementation, this scheme may help in building stronger individuals, society and nation.
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