Will the Army stop Agnipath recruitment drive in Punjab? The tussle explained

The Army’s Agnipath recruitment drive has hit a roadbump in Punjab.

According to an Indian Express report, the Army has complained of lack of support from the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party government during their recruitment drive and added that if it continued they would be forced to stop the process or shift it to neighbouring states.

What has happened in the state? Why is the Indian Army upset with the Punjab government? Here’s why.

The Army vs Punjab government

The Indian Army’s zonal recruitment officer in Punjab’s Jalandhar on 8 September wrote to V K Janjua, Punjab chief secretary, and Kumar Rahul, principal secretary, employment generation, skill development and training, stating that the local administration was not extending support in the recruitment of soldiers under the Agnipath scheme.

In the letter, accessed by Indian Express, Major General Sharad Bikram Singh said: “We are constrained to bring to your kind attention that support from local civil administration is vacillating with no clear cut commitments. They are usually citing their inadequacies due to lack of directions from the state government at Chandigarh or lack of funds.”

As per norms laid down, the local administration must provide police assistance and administrative support for the recruitment rally that runs for 14 days at a particular venue.

Additionally, the administration is expected to also arrange medical support, which includes a medical officer and ambulances, basic amenities such as rain shelters, water and mobile toilets and food for the candidates during the rally.

The Indian Army has alleged that the Bhagwant Mann government hasn’t adhered to the required norms during the ongoing enrolment drive for the Agnipath scheme in Jalandhar. It added that if support wasn’t extended, it would take up the matter with Army Headquarters and hold off on future recruitment drives from the state or alternatively conduct rallies in neighbouring states.

The Army already conducted a drive in Ludhiana in August and the ongoing one in Gurdaspur is expected to run until today and another is scheduled to be held in Patiala from 17 September to 30.

However, Kumar Rahul principal secretary, employment generation, skill development and training, played down the letter, stating that the drives would be run smoothly. He said that while “some issues” had cropped up in Gurdaspur it wasn’t serious and that all measures were in place for the smooth running of the rally.

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Recruitment from Punjab

In August, recruitment for the Indian Army under the newly-introduced Agnipath scheme began across the country after massive protests were held nationwide.

The new scheme will see candidates being enrolled into the Armed Forces for a period of four years. After completing this period, the recruits, called Agniveers, will be offered an opportunity to apply for enrolment in the permanent cadre. Of these, up to 25 per cent of Agniveers will be selected to be enrolled in the Armed Forces as a regular cadre. The remaining will go to the society as disciplined and skilled work force for employment in other sectors to pursue their career in job of their choice.

With a large number of regular entries into the Army coming from Punjab, officials decided to conduct three rallies in the northern state.

As per a Tribune report, while the Army has not disclosed the number of soldiers to be enrolled from Punjab in the current recruitment year, officials estimate the total number of vacancies allocated to the state under the Agnipath scheme to be 3,500-4,000.

Previous data reveals that around one-fourth of the total soldiers selected all over the country in a year belong to the region of Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

As per data tabled in Parliament earlier in February, a total of 18,798 youngsters were selected from this region in the last recruitment drive of held in 2019-2020. Of this 18,798, 7,813 were from Punjab, 5,097 came from Haryana, 5,882 were from Himachal Pradesh and six came from Chandigarh.

This isn’t an anomaly. In fact, in the past too, intake of soldiers from Punjab has been high. In 2017-2018, the Army selected 4,988 jawans from Punjab. In the following year, the number rose to 5,843.

Agnipath scheme row in Punjab

Since the Centre announced the new Agnipath scheme, there have been many who have criticised it, leading to widespread protests across the nation.

In June, Punjab Assembly had passed a resolution against the Agnipath scheme for the recruitment into the Armed Forces.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had called the scheme anti-youth and added that the military recruitment scheme would destroy the basic fabric of the Indian Army.

With inputs from agencies

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