Agniveers of the Agnipath

Kisalay Chakrabarty

(ckisalay94@gmail.com)

Tu nathakega kabhi

Tu nathamega kabhi

Tu namudega kabhi,

Karshapath, Karshapath, Karshapath,

Agnipath, Agnipath, Agnipath

Although a stanza from Harivansh Rai Bachchan's famous poem "Agnipath" feels enough to instil a tough mindset and motivate one to push himself/herself to vow towards reaching a goal or achievement in life; the Government on Tuesday decided to come up with a radical "Agnipath" or "Tour of Duty" scheme which will take in youth between 17-and-a-half years of age to those aged twenty-one into the Army, Navy and Air Force as soldiers or Agniveers for four years. According to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the scheme is being implemented to profile the Armed Forces as "youthful". According to the Lieutenant General Anil Puri, the average age of the armed forces currently is 32, which seems to be on the higher side; thus; the scheme would help the average age to reach around 26 in 6 to 7 years along with transforming the armed forces into youthful, tech-savvy and harness the youth's potential making him a future-ready soldier. The scheme also envisages cutting down salaries and pension bills. With Indian armed forces becoming manpower heavy the defence budget is also getting stretched. The defence budget for this year (2022-23) is Rs 5.25 trillion, out of which Rs 1.19 trillion is allocated purely to pensions and Rs. 2.33 trillion for revenue expenditure, which includes expenses on payment of salaries and maintenance of establishments.

The idea of "Agnipath" was the brainchild of the late Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, who was looking to reduce the burgeoning pension bill as well as revenue expenditure in terms of salaries and other costs, which could be spent on various procurements. Moreover, the scheme seeks to replace the existing recruitment model whereby soldiers are initially recruited as sepoys into specific regiments, based on class patterns.

The scheme will see 46,000 youngsters from the age of 17-and-a-half to 21 being inducted into the three branches of the Armed Forces — the Army, Navy and Air Force; they will be having a distinct insignia and a distinct cadre and they will be sent to various units and regiments of the armed forces. Although the Agniveers will be given the option to enroll into the regular cadre after four years, however, only 25 per cent of each batch will be absorbed in the regular cadre of the armed forces. Agniveers will be receiving Rs 4.76 lakh for the first year to Rs 6.92 lakh for the fourth year, along with a 'Seva Nidhi' package under which an Agniveer will contribute 30 per cent of his emoluments with the government making a matching contribution, which, after the fourth year will amount to Rs 11.71 lakh and will be tax-free, upon which they can avail loans of around Rs 18 lakh over 3 years or more. An additional ex-gratia amounting to Rs 44 lakh will be given in case of death attributable to service, and compensation under existing rules will be given in case of disability. However, there won't be any pension, nor any ex-servicemen's benefits. The ones recruited under this scheme will have to meet the medical eligibility conditions as applicable for respective categories/trades within the armed forces.

Sources believe that the scheme brings in the best of both the models of conscription and volunteer service for related benefits. There would be limited stress on the military revenue budget, as also pension bills, which would empower the armed forces to re-channelize these funds for their capital procurements and modernization programmes. The optimists are of the opinion that the scheme, firstly, would make the armed forces younger. Secondly, it would allow the Government an opportunity to reduce the shortfall of around 1.3 lakh personnel of the sanctioned strength. Thirdly, there would be a combination of experience and youth in the armed forces. Fourth, it is an economically viable option; with these Agniveers not entitled to receive any pension, it would lead to big savings in the pension over time. Fifth, every year the scheme would lead to skill enhancement of nearly 40,000 youths who will go into our workforce in an ever-growing economy. Sixth, looking through the social prism, in a country where the minimum age of marriage is 21, the majority of the ones joining the armed forces would be unencumbered by their families, especially concerning marriage. Seventh, the armed forces would get more tech-savvy with younger generations getting into the service every year, who would be better trainable to cope with modern warfare and modern systems. Lastly, this would lead to the creation of a classless unit in the Indian Armed forces, because right now the Indian Armed forces, particularly the Indian Army are still set on the old colonial pattern which is class-based regiments or class-based regiments. And since these Agniveers will be distributed everywhere, this will bring about the homogenization of the armed forces.

The human mind always resists transformation and the naysayers within the defence and security establishment argue that the scheme will lead to a loss of institutional memory, especially in the regiments in the army. Naysayers have termed the Agniveers as mere "tourists" citing that they would develop poor discipline and they would be poorly trained thus resulting in poor commitment. Some of them fear that it would lead to the militarization of society. For the record, former Lt. General Vinod Bhatia has lamented the scheme citing concerns that nearly 75% of youth, i.e., around 40,000 would be back from the armed forces rejected and dejected without any job, semi-trained in arms which can be a security nightmare. Critics are also of the opinion that there will be less bonding and more of a cutthroat competition as only 1 out of 4 would finally be inducted in the armed forces after the end of four years. Traditionally, the armed forces are built around the idea of "never questioning the order". However, with the Agniveers knowing that they will only be serving for 4 years, the question arises how much would they be committed to putting their life on the line in a battlefield. Last but not the least, it would increase the workload of the Commanding Officers and Junior Commanding Officers whose main task is to keep the unit battle-ready.

Armed forces by definition and by tradition tend to be very conservative and very change-averse and if at all there is a change it tends to take place very slowly and serendipitously. However, a debate over the future shape and size of India's armed forces was going on for a long time. With the changing course of modern warfare and the growing potentiality of hybrid warfare, schemes like Agnipath need to be adopted more strategically. It should be seen as a national project, rather than just a defence ministry initiative to cut costs and have faith that the scheme will assist the nation as India is on the cusp of a major transformation. Agreed that the dedication, zeal and professionalism of the Indian soldiers are unmatched, as he/she fights for Naam, Namak and Nishan; but judging the Agniveers even before they are being recruited is not called for. Agnipath is untested and may need changes in the future — only a few policies are perfect in their first avatar. But it is neither "polluting paltans" nor a "death knell" to the armed forces.