Agnipath attracting good numbers: Let’s not politicise it by linking it with Shinzo Abe death
Agnipath attracting good numbers: Let’s not politicise it by linking it with Shinzo Abe death
It was most unfortunate when a few politicians in India called Shinzo Abe's killer a product of an Agnipath-like scheme. There are hundreds of shootouts taking place around the world, mostly for no rhyme or reason, and 99 per cent by untrained individuals. Yes, unemployment is an issue, but to say that every unemployed is prospective murderer would be stretching things too far. The Agnipath scheme is unfolding well with large numbers applying for a very respectable career in the armed forces. We have reasons to be proud of the Indian youth.
As per the Government of India release, nearly 7,50,000 candidates have registered for recruitment for the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) 3,000 slots for short-term induction into the armed forces. This is the highest number of candidates to have registered for air force jobs in any recruitment cycle, IAF said. In 2021, 6,31,528 applications were the previous highest in any recruitment cycle. Clearly the apprehensions of some about the scheme seem to have been unfounded. People still feel they have a great opportunity to serve the nation through the new scheme, and they will work hard to compete and become permanent air warriors. The new IAF recruits will be called Agniveer Vayu. The aspirants will undertake an online examination between 24 July and 31 July. Those who clear will go through the further process of medical and physical fitness test. Those who make it to the merit list will begin training in December 2022.
About 46,000 Agniveers are planned to be recruited this year — 40,000 by the Indian Army, and 3,000 each by the Indian Navy and the IAF. Online registrations for Army and Navy aspirants started on 1 July. The last date for Agniveer enrolment in the Army is 31 July 2022. Tenth and 12th passed candidates are eligible for the Indian Army. The Army will hold a common entrance exam between 16 October and 13 November. The selected candidates will join their training centres in December. The Navy will follow a similar timeline. The Agniveers of all the services will reach operational assignments by July 2023.
The Indian Navy has finally advertised for 2,800 posts. The registration process began on 1 July 2022. The online application timelines are from 15 July 2022 to 22 July 2022. The exam will be held mid-October 2022. They will join for training at the end November 2022.
The scheme will provide recruitment of youths in the age bracket of 17-and-a-half to 21. The upper age limit has been extended to 23 years for recruitment in 2022 as a one-time waiver, so as to give an opportunity to those who missed a chance as there was no recruitment in the last two years. An Agniveer’s term will be for four years. Up to 25 per cent would be selected and be enrolled for 15 more years. The remaining 75 per cent will be released with a one-time financial package of roughly Rs 11.71 lakh, which they would have saved from their salary and with equivalent contribution by the government.
The Agniveer vacancy offers a fairly good financial package. They will be trained in the finest institutions of the finest armed forces, where their skills will be polished. They will be disciplined, made physically and mentally stronger, and converted from a young boy into a hardened brave patriotic warrior.
It is a path-breaking service entry scheme for Indian armed forces. The young boys (later girls too) will be picked up across India, without regional bias, give them a short consolidated training, and then assign them to operational tasks. They start with a good salary package (Rs 30,000) with annual increments. They are entitled to medical and insurance cover and other service facilities like canteen etc.
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Those released back into the society with highly engrained patriotism and discipline, improved skill sets, and appropriate certificates endorsing them. They are still young and much better prepared to compete for a variety of jobs. The government has assured a certain percentage of jobs in Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF). These include the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the Border Security Force (BSF), the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP), which are under the administrative and operational control of the MHA. Most Chief Ministers have given similar assurances. Similarly, most Public Sector Undertakings (PSU) have assured preferential induction based on merit. Many corporate houses have made similar commitments.
Some veterans had aired concerns about the operational capability of Agniveer, and readiness and ability to integrate in the unit ethos and fighting spirit in that short period. The same have been allayed by the senior serving officers who are directly involved in the recruitment scheme and operations of the armed forces. This has been done through public briefings. In the past there has been resistance to change during implementation of Short Service Commission (SSC) for the officers, induction of women in armed forces, Sainik Schools and NDA. Yet, they all performed very well. Clearly, the system adjusts to change.
Some of the apprehensions lack realism and need clarity. There is a famous saying: “Change is the only constant.” Militaries and corporates across the globe are all the time evolving HR practices. The world today is highly digitised and technical. So are the armed forces. The youth are much more tech-savvy and imbibe technology very quickly. India needs futuristic armed forces. The current average age of Indian armed forces is around 32 years. After around 10-12 years of this scheme being in place, this age will come down to around 25 years. This will be a win-win for all. There are many armed forces, including Israel, Sweden, Singapore, among others, where the age profile is fairly low.
This somewhat revolutionary change in military affairs has been under deliberation and fine tuning for implementation for nearly two years. The government and the armed forces are on the same page. The armed forces have arranged to give out details of the scheme through a media blitz and briefings. Especially the veterans have been briefed in detail and their misgivings answered. Once the services have planned a youthful drive, it is incumbent upon the veterans to support the exercise with only meaningful advice and not unfounded criticism.
Service HQs have explained that the services will start reaping the benefits right from the time these youngsters start the moment they join training. Having taken them very young, it will be possible to mould them and make them ready for combat, conflicts or a no-war no-peace situation. By nearly ten years the Agniveer strength will reach the 50 percent mark. The three service HQs feel that the armed forces will be in a very good operational state, despite all the perceived uncertainties. It is inbuilt in the CCS approval that the scheme could be tweaked for improvement anytime at the level of Defence Minister in consultation with the service Chiefs.
Though it has been repeatedly clarified that the primary purpose of the exercise is not to cut the pension budget, undoubtedly the pension bill will reduce considerably. Albeit such reduction will be seen only after 11-12 years of the implementation of the scheme. There are no reasons to believe that the young Indians will be less patriotic or will lack combat skills. The Agniveers will work on aircraft, ships and tanks. They will get postings in field and peace stations. They will be exposed to high and low risk tasks. They will be groomed to be team members and young leaders. Even when the 75 percent leave to join the national mainstream, it will be a “whole-of-nation” approach.
At 25, the Agniveer would still be young. Their newly acquired competence, combined with the personality, fitness and life skills will put them ahead of their peers. The corporate world will be very happy to take them in. There is a big boom in aviation, and shipping. Air force and naval personnel have great opportunities. Similarly the Army is very high-tech today and there are many jobs in the corporate world in tele-communications, logistics, security, and other fields. The exit package, ‘Seva Nidhi’, of over 10 lakh, is a sizeable sum for an individual to start something on his own.
Some had aired apprehensions that not many would now want to enrol in the armed forces. The best would rather join other government jobs where permanency is assured. From the initial applications, this does not seem to be true. Yet, this concern would have to be watched. Let us go through 2-3 induction cycles before commenting.
Agniveer will be a great opportunity for India’s youth to experience military life without having to join the armed forces on a long-term basis, and yet have that option to continue to serve. It is also unfair to say that the Agniveer will just be concentrating to build his resume. He will actually have his hands full. It is the military that should help them have a proud resume for an alternative career.
The Indian soldier is unmatched, as he fights with full loyalty for the reputation of the regiment and the unit flag. I do not see that the young Agniveer will have lesser loyalty to his unit just because he is there only for four years. In fact he will work hard to prove his loyalty with a hope to become permanent.
The armed forces are conscious that being a combat force and with live active borders, the operational capability cannot be allowed to go down. The Regular-to-Agniveer ratios will change gradually. Initial entry will be of lesser numbers and the same will go up in years to come. All this has been factored and gamed. Those getting permanent enrolment will go through another round of training to be able to take-on higher level technical and other tasks. The recruitments have been on hold for some time. It is important that they restart at the earliest. It is incumbent upon the Veterans to support the armed forces in their plans.
The writer is Director General, Centre for Air Power Studies. Views expressed are personal.
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