The government recently announced its Agnipath scheme for the recruitment of soldiers in the three services i.e Indian army, Navy and Air force.
Agnipath is a new human resource management scheme for armed forces. Candidates inducted through this scheme will be called as agniveers. These agniveers once enrolled into the armed forces (Indian army, Navy and Air force), will serve for a period of four years.
We can say that, after the period of four years, 75% of the Agniveers will go back to the society and remaining 25% will be inducted in these three services for a period of another 15 years, under permanent commission. These 25% agniveers will be enrolled in the three services (Indian Army, Navy & Air force) based on the performance during their four year period. The skills gained by each Agniveer will be given in a certificate to form part of his resume.
Approximately 50,000 soldiers will be recruited every year.
Only personnel below the rank of officer (those who do not join the forces as commissioned officers) will be affected by this scheme or, we can say that only non-commissioned officers are eligible for this scheme.
Eligibility criteria :-
a) Recruitment will be done on ‘All India’ ‘All Classes’.
b) Age Limit :- Eligible age for agniveers will be in a range from 17.5 years to 21 years. However, the upper age limit has been relaxed from 21 years to 23 years for 2022-23. This will, however, be a one-time allowance.
c) Medical and physical fitness criteria shall be met in accordance with existing rules of the services.
Employability :-
Agniveers are liable to be assigned any duty in organizational interest.
Training :-
Individuals will be imparted military training of 6 months and after that they will be inducted in the services to serve for three and half years.
Salary :-
Individuals enrolled under this Scheme will be paid an Agniveer package of Rs. 30,000/- per month with a fixed yearly increment.
Agniveer Corpus Fund :-
A non-lapsable dedicated ‘Agniveer Corpus Fund’ will be created. Each Agniveer is to contribute 30% of his monthly income to ‘Agniveer Corpus Fund’. The Government will also deposit an equivalent amount in the fund. After completion of the engagement period of four years, Agniveers will be eligible to receive ‘Seva Nidhi’ package, which shall comprise their contribution (into the Agniveer Corpus Fund) and matching contribution from the government and interest on the accumulated amount. The ‘Seva Nidhi’ will be exempted from Income Tax.
Advanatges of Agnipath scheme :–
1) It is a unique opportunity for the youth to serve the nation.
2) It also has a attractive financial package for the Agniveers. i.e
a) By the completion of the 4 yrs of service, one-time ‘Seva Nidhi’ package of Rs 11.71 lakhs will be paid to agniveers that will include their accrued interest.
b) Rs 48 lakh life insurance cover for the four years.
c) The payout will be over Rs 1 crore in case of death, including pay for the unserved tenure.
3) The government will help rehabilitate soldiers who are leaving after completion of 4 years. They will be provided with skill certificates & bridge courses.
4) From government’s perspective, it will reduce the defence pension bill, as now onwards, government will have to pay pension benefits to only 25% of the soldiers who are going to be inducted for permanent commission.
5) Availability of disciplined & skilled youth with military ethos in the civil society.
6) It will make the armed forces much younger. For India’s over 13-lakh strong armed forces, the current average age is 32 years. It is estimated that, this scheme will bring down the avergae age to 26 years after 6 to 7 years.
7) It provides opportunities for the Agniveers to train in the best institutions and enhnace their skills which will further help them in re-employment.
8) This scheme will have a potential to create “future-ready” soldiers.
Note :- The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) decides to reserve 10 percent vacancies for recruitment in CAPFs and Assam Rifles for Agniveers, completing four years under the Agnipath Scheme announced by the Government of India.
Note :- The MHA also decides to give 3 years age relaxation beyond the prescribed upper age limit to Agniveers for recruitment in CAPFs & Assam Rifles. Further, for the first batch of Agniveer, the age relaxation will be for 5 years beyond the prescribed upper age limit.”
Concerns related to this scheme :-
- Difficult to Find Another Job : On a short-term contract of four years ‘Agnipath’ scheme opens the way for recruitment of about 45,000 soldiers into Army, Navy and Air Force in the first year. After the completion of the contract, 25% of them will be retained and the rest will leave the forces. So, it is difficult for the remaining 75% of the agniveers to find another job.
- No Pension Benefit : Those hired under the ‘Agnipath’ scheme will be given a one-time lumpsum of a little more than Rs 11 lakh when they end their four-year tenure. They will not receive any pension benefits. For most, seeking a second job is essential to support themselves and their families.
- Training May Remain Unutilized : Forces will lose experienced soldiers. The jawans joining the Army, Navy and Air Force will be given technical training so that they are able to support the ongoing operations. But these men and women will leave after four years, which will create a void.
- Doubt about training : 6 months of short training may not be enough to trust them with the same kind of tasks that current troops can be trusted with.
- No job security : There is no job security, as the candidate will become unemployed after the 4 years of service.
Similar schemes in other countries :–
- Voluntary tour of duty :- In the USA, this tour is of 6-9 or even 12 months’ In it, deploymentdepends upon the needs of the military and branch of service.
- Mandatory tour of duty (called conscription) :- Countries which follow this practice of conscription are Israel, North Korea, Norway and Sweden.