Table of Contents
What’s happening?
- ‘Agniveers’ will constitute half of the 12-lakh strong Army by 2030-2032 to achieve an optimal balance of youth and experience to fight wars of the future, Lt-General BS Raju said on Wednesday,
- Adding that the Agnipath scheme will be tweaked if needed on ground experience and operational necessities.
How many will be recruited?
- “We are going to progressively scale up annual recruitment under the scheme.
- From 40,000 recruits this year, it will go up to 1.2 lakh by the seventh or eighth year and then 1.6 lakh by the tenth or eleventh
- All recruitments (except officers) will be done only under Agnipath,” said the Army vice chief.
- The much-smaller IAF and Navy will recruit 3,000 Agniveers each this year, with the numbers going up proportionately in the coming years.
- From every batch of Agniveers, only 25% of the “best of the best” will be retained to serve another 15 years as regular cadre soldiers in the Army, with the other 75% being demobilised after four years.
Main aim
- “The aim is to eventually have regular cadre soldiers (erstwhile Agniveers) and Agniveers (on a four-year tenure) in a 50:50 ratio.
- Reduction of the average age of soldiers from the existing 32 to 24-26 in six to seven years will lead to a much fitter, tech-savvy Army,” Lt-Gen Raju said.
What about concerns raised?
- There are widespread concerns that the radical scheme to recruit the bulk of soldiers for only four years on an “all-India, all-class” basis will hit the professionalism, regimental ethos and fighting spirit of the Army.
- It is also feared it will lead to militarisation of society with over 35,000 combat-trained youth being rendered jobless every year.
- The Army vice chief, however, maintained these concerns are largely ill-conceived and misplaced.
- “Regimentation, ethos and camaraderie is an output of a group
- of soldiers staying together, eating together and fighting together, irrespective of whether they belong to a particular community or not.
- There will be no dilution of the basic ethos of ‘Naam, Namak and Nishaan’,” he said.
- Around 75% of the Army today is composed of all-India, all-class regiments and units.
- “Rashtriya Rifles, the Brigade of the Guards, Para-Special Forces battalions and many other such units are practical examples of bonding and operating well together,” he added.
What about those who leave after 4 years?
- As for the large number of Agniveers entering civil society every year, Lt-Gen Raju said,
- “Why should the psyche of an individual change merely because he was not selected for the regular cadre?
- Disciplined and well-skilled Agniveers, with a ‘Seva Nidhi’ exit package of Rs 11.7 lakh, will be eligible candidates for many public and private sector jobs.“
- The government is already working on a plan to induct Agniveers into the Central Armed Police Forces, Defence Security Corps, PSUS and other agencies and departments.
- Will Agniveers be risk-averse, with the bulk of them looking for a second career? “If a soldier has to fire his rifle, he will.
- Agniveers will be well-trained. They, in fact, will compete with
- each other to join the regular cadre… I am sure battalion commanding officers will be able to manage and handle this,” Lt-Gen Raju said.
Q) ‘Dustlik’ is a military exercise between India and which country?
- Kazakhstan
- Myanmar
- Uzbekistan
- Japan
Latest Burning Issues | Free PDF
WhatsApp