The government New scheme may recruit youths between 17-21 years of age as soldiers for four years. The Armed Forces will enroll candidates from all over India and from all classes.Cadets will have a distinct insignia of their own. Move aims to keep the three services younger and reduce pension burden
The Narendra Modi government on Tuesday, announced a new recruitment scheme for the armed forces. The Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and the three service chiefs provided an upshot of the scheme. The Agnipath scheme will have recruits aged between 17-21 years serving for four years. The cabinet committee cleared the scheme on Tuesday. The defence services will commence recruitment rallies within 90 days and would recruit around 46,000 soldiers this year.
Service Terms
Currently, the Armed forces recruits sepoys into various regiments based on class patterns. The Agnipath scheme, will enroll cadets for four years , including the training period. These recruits will be named Agniveers. They will draw a salary of Rs 30,000-Rs40,000 per month with allowances. Candidates will also have to meet the medical eligibility requirements applicable for the respective trades/ categories within the armed forces.
Under the new scheme ,however, the armed forces will permanently enroll only 25% of candidates. They can also post Agniveers in any regiment or unit. Cadets would also be entitled to honours and awards under extant guidelines on the subject. They’d even have their own insignia. Cadets recruited under the scheme will also get a “Seva Nidhi package” of Rs 11.71 lakhs including interest (tax free). This will contain 30% of the cadet’s salary and an equal amount put in by the government. They can access a bank loan of 18.2 Lakhs for three years or more against the Seva Nidhi package.
Agniveers will also be given a non-contributory insurance cover of Rs 48 lakhs. The armed forces will also provide an ex-gratia of Rs 44 lakhs incase of death while service. They’ll also compensate incase of disability. However, cadets who leave after four years will not be given ex-servicemen status. They won’t be entitled to gratuity and pension benefits.
The Aye Sayers
Supporters say that scheme brings the best in both models of conscription and volunteer service. It would reduce the stress on military revenue budget and pensions. This would help the armed forces re-channelize funds for modernization and capital procurement. The global security environment has been changing and armed forces are bringing novel ideas to adapt to future requirements.
Sources claim that the scheme would the forces recruit younger, fitter, diverse and more trainable individuals. Newer cadets would be more adaptable to changing dynamics and technology, thus enhancing operational effectiveness. The scheme will churn out a large number of Agniveer cadets with a high release rate(75%). Soon there will be Agniveers in ever village and city.
The Nay Sayers
Critics of the scheme belong to the defence establishment itself. They suggest the scheme should undergo trials to see the advantages and the disadvantages. Meanwhile, sceptics also argue that the measures will impact the institutional memory of regiments. Also someone with only 25% chance of being permanent may not fight with the same zeal as a regular soldier.75% of recruits will eventually be back in society without a permanent job. With the resultant militarization of society and diminishing job prospects, Agniveers can be recruited by militants, they argue.
Lt.General Vinod Bhatia, former director general of military operations (DGMO) has voiced some of those concerns on Twitter.
On the other hand,Lt. General PR Shankar voiced his reservations too in an article. “The tour of duty does not seem to be a good idea and needs to proceed with caution”, he said.
Tour of duty is an exercise without adequate staff or capacity. To do that the teeth of the unit will have to be knocked off. The not so well trained tourist will then be a part of a subunit. There will be rat race there with little bonding or junior leadership, he cautioned.
The fresh recruit will have to deal with complex equipment which he cannot handle. Simultaneously, he’d also have to firefight marauding Pakistani and Chinese soldiers. “In essence, the tour of duty proposal expects a superman from the kindergarten. We might be producing an Abhimanyu, but he will not get out of the Chakravyuhu”, Shankar warned.
(Inputs, the Print, the Telegraph)
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