New Delhi: The ‘Agnipath’ scheme may have triggered nationwide protests but Eastern Air Commander Air Marshal D K Patnaik, Vice Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General B S Raju and Congress leader Manish Tewari, among others, explain why it’s a step in the right direction.
Win-win-win situation: Air Marshal D K Patnaik, Eastern Air Commander
“It’s not just a ‘win-win’ situation but a ‘win-win-win’ situation. I say this because I feel it’s a ‘win’ for the young recruit, it’s a ‘win’ for the armed forces which he or she will serve and, finally, it’s also a ‘win’ for the country and the private sector where he or she will serve after four years of military service,” said Air Marshal D K Patnaik.
“The financial package of Rs 11 lakh that an Agniveer will get after four years of service may not be a big amount but it’s something. He or she can take a loan, launch a start-up and employ other people. He or she will have a unique resume. They will be an asset to any organisation. We already have Short Service Commission (SSC) officers who are doing very well in the private sector,” he said.
Make Army fitter: Vice Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General B S Raju
“The average age of a soldier now is about 32-33 years. With Agnipath, in around 8-10 years, we’ll be able to lower the profile of soldiers to about 26 years. It’ll make the Army fitter. We’ll be able to handle more challenging situations in difficult areas that troops operate in,” Lieutenant General B S Raju said.
“Beauty of this scheme is that it’s going to be introduced in a very slow manner. In the first year, we’re getting around 40,000 recruits. These recruits will be selected pan-India and will go through six months of training. Thereafter they’ll serve for 3.5 years. At the end of 4 years, we’re looking at retaining 25 per cent of the people who we think have the attitude and aptitude to stay in the Army,” he added.
Step in right direction: Cong’s Manish Tewari
Congress leader Manish Tewari feels the Agnipath scheme is a “step in the right direction” as the nature of modern-day warfare has completely changed.
“In this day and age you need a mobile army, a younger army. You need more expenditure on technology and weaponry. That’s not going to happen if you have a very big footprint on the ground and that’s where the bulk of your money goes,” he told NDTV.
“If you look at armed forces going back three decades, there has been a more mobile expeditionary force, which relies more on technology, which relies more on latest weaponry and which has a younger age profile — therefore under those circumstances this is a much-required reform,” he said.
Stating that the concerns of the youth were “legitimate”, Tewari, however, felt that armed forces are “not an employment guarantee programme”. But he added that the government must ensure that after four years of military service, they are able to find employment in other sectors.
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