Agnipath context: Border forces may recruit Agniveers, send them to Army, and take them back

[Bagheera0084]

Border forces may recruit Agniveers, send them to Army, and take them back

Agnipath scheme was launched primarily to cut the expenditure on defence pension

By Brigadier P.K.G. Mishra (retd)
Issue Date: July 07, 2024
Updated: June 30, 2024 07:25 IST

Till two years ago, ‘Agnipath’ was the title of a poem by Harivansh Rai Bachchan, and of a film made famous by his son. Now it denotes a tour-of-duty scheme by which the armed forces recruit soldiers, and is listed as one of the many reasons that stopped the BJP from getting majority in the recent Lok Sabha elections. The Agnipath scheme, by which Agniveers are being inducted into the armed forces, was launched in 2022 primarily with an aim of reducing the expenditure on defence pension. At that point of time India had about 27 lakh ex-servicemen and seven lakh widows, making a total of about 34 lakh defence pensioners. With about 60,000 soldiers retiring every year, the figure today should be over 35 lakh. Soldiers, other than officers, retire between the age of 35 and 52 years depending on the rank they retire at. They retire after having served for 17 to 32 years. With the average life expectancy in India having gone up to around 70 years, an average retiree draws pension for more than 30 years. In other words, most of them are paid more when they are not working than when they were working. Hence, the government thought of reducing this annual financial outlay.

As per the new policy, a soldier serves initially for a non-pensionable four-year period. Thereafter, 25 per cent of them remain to serve for a pensionable service period; the rest, all in their early 20s, are sent home with no pension. A few could be absorbed in government departments, PSUs and private sectors. There was a proposal to induct some of them in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) but they have objected saying their role is different from that of the armed forces, and that they cannot absorb military-rejects.

In short, there is no clear policy in place to absorb the 75 per cent. This has become a political issue, especially in states that are high recruiting grounds. Therefore, the government is now trying to review this policy.

A new proposal, said to have come from the Army, suggests two changes. One, Agniveers be recruited initially for six or seven years instead of four. Then, instead of 25 per cent being retained in service, keep 50 per cent. This would also entail automatic increase in the severance benefits.

This is only a knee-jerk response, which does not address the core issue which is that the youth want permanent jobs and the government wants to cut permanent jobs which are pensionable. Any solution should meet these two contradictory requirements.

Let’s first examine the promotion system in the Army. The Army can promote only 56 per cent of its sepoys, the lowest rank, to the next rank of naik. This means 44 per cent of recruits (about five lakh) retire at the age of 35 to 40, at the lowest rank of sepoy, after serving 17 to 19 years. These men would have to be paid pension for an average of 35 more years. Can we give these five lakh soldiers some permanent, pensionable jobs, without adding to the budgetary allocation for pension?

The CAPF, one million strong, are two types―one guarding the borders and the other taking care of internal security. Among the first are the Assam Rifles, the ITBP, the BSF and the SSB. They number about five lakh. Among the latter are the CRPF, the CISF and the NSG. They are also about five lakh. Some of these border guarding forces, such as the Assam Rifles, operate under the overall command of the Army permanently; others like the BSF come under the Army during operations. The upper age of their recruitment is higher by four to five years than that of the Army.

The solution is simple. The border guarding CAPF can recruit five lakh boys of 17-to-20 years age, give them over to the Army, where they can be trained for six months and asked to serve for four years. After the four years of service in Army, they can be reverted to their parent CAPF, after undergoing a refresher training, where they can serve till 60.

For his initial period with armed forces as Agniveer he will be paid a fixed monthly stipend, and his normal government salary will commence only once he joins his parent CAPF service. Even though the individual will be paid a monthly stipend, he will remain a Central government employee and will be entitled for all the terminal benefits of a normal soldier in case of any mishap. The advantages of this modified scheme are:

• Major reduction in sanctioned manpower of armed forces.

• Assured promotion (minimum one) to all the armed forces personnel’s before superannuation.

• More than 50 per cent of Army strength will be permanent as hitherto fore ensuring regimentation.

• Agniveers on reversion to CAPF will facilitate better operational affiliation with the Army.

• Major saving, not only in the pension allocation but even while in service, since during the period of engagement the Agniveer will be paid a monthly stipend only. In addition, no lump sum money will have be paid to anyone on exit after four years, as no one will be exiting in this model.

• CAPF will be getting operational trained manpower of its own and not any rejected lot from the armed forces.

• Hundred per cent get absorbed unlike the present 25 per cent; all will go on to serve till the age of 60.

• The government saves on salary and pension.

Mishra, a strategic affairs expert, serves as officer on special duty to the lieutenant governor of Delhi.

 

[Bagheera0084]

What's your opinion on this?

@vsdoc @Sharma Ji @PoKeMon @Mrloveday

 

[vsdoc]

Scrap it. Eat shit BJP and Modi.

 

[Bagheera0084]

Scrap it. Eat shit BJP and Modi.

Just because BJP led government announced it (Agnipath scheme)?

 

[vsdoc]

Just because BJP led government announced it (Agnipath scheme)?

No. Because the scheme is a disaster for the nation. And its fighting readiness. The army hates it. But as in most areas, the BJP and Modi consider themselves all knowing experts whereas the reality is that they are uneducated, very mediocre saving a few exceptions, and super incompetent.

 

[Faceless]

Honestly Agnipath is the shittiest military "reform" to ever happen in Indian history.
It literally exposed how low IQ and our of touch with reality our politicians and Babus are
This Thing is bad for literally both the parties involved

Army hates it because
1. these "theke ke jawan" (contract soldiers) will be the first one to abandon their posts because which fool would want to risk his life for an army that won't even support the family he will leave behind if he dies.

2. these soldiers will only have 1/3rd the training as compared to non agniveer soldiers, any General worth his Salt will tell you how disastrous this will be.

Soldiers Hate it because
1. They will earn only 2/3 of their non agniveer compatriots, while literally doing the same work as before

2. Army is thinking of them as "use-and-throw labourers" and They have no insurance or medical coverage after their tenure as agniveers is over

In case you are wounded in action and are disabled/injured for life, Army hospitals will not be treating you for life.
Got Cancer from handling carcinogenic materials for 4 years, Who cares, Not our problem
Got your legs blow off, F*ck yourself, who cares, Not our problem
Any other country that respects it's soldiers would give such a person free medical coverage for life, disability benefits and pensions, but in Vishwagorrila India the Army will wash off it's hands from any such responsibility by giving you a lump sump amount and leaving you on your own for the rest of your life.

3. They won't be given the status of martyrs if they die.
Got killed in action while protecting your beloved Vishwagorrila India, and now your elderly parents have no one to support them, who cares here is your 1 crores rupees and now go f*ck yourself.
No pension, no support system for your family Nothing.

4. They can't become an agniveers after graduating because retards at South block as so out of touch from reality that the upper age limit for Agniveer enrollment is only 21 years, want to get a college degree and then join the Army go f*ck yourself.

5. They will have to kiss the ass of their superiors because there is no openness on how the 25% soldiers will be retained.
And even if you are retained in the army your pension won't be counted from the day you joined the organisation but from the day you were retained (basically 4 years worth of pension funds gone)
Tell me again this is the Indian Army we are talking about and not some shady company which exploits it's workers

6. Soldiers Hate it because they won't be able to find employment after completing their 4 years tenure due to learning 0 skills that will be useful in the job market, and will not have a graduate degree because South block Babus are retards.
To rub salt at their wounds these soldiers won't even be given special quotas or relaxations in any exams or jobs (many national and state level exams have a very low age limit so by the time a 19 year old completes his 4 of agniveer and 3 years of graduation, he won't be eligible for many exams, not to mention a soldier who was away from studies for 4 years will not be able to compete with a student who never stopped his studies)
Basically becoming an Agniveer means destroying your own life by your own hands.

 

[Bagheera0084]

Soldiers Hate it

Why did they join then?

 

[Faceless]

Why did they join then?

The same reason you go to work even on days you don't want to,
The same reason thousands travel unsafely to their work everyday on Mumbai local
The same reason thousands of manual scavengers enter the gutter everyday
To feed their families and to clothe their children.
Soldiers still choose to work for this thankless organization because of their love for the nation and because they have no other job opportunities.

 

[vsdoc]

Why did they join then?

Because it beats taloing pakodas and might just get the guy a wife while he's still young.

 

[Bagheera0084]

Renowned journalist of Swaminomics fame, Swaminathan Aiyar, advocates Agnipath scheme:

The defence of India is not a job creation scheme.

Article:

India needs Agnipath, not pensionpath

Swaminathan S Anklesaria AiyarTNN
Jun 18, 2022 | 21:59 IST

The defence of India is not a job creation scheme, as many rioters seem to believe. India urgently needs to modernise its military capability, focusing on high-tech areas such as cyberwarfare, drones, missiles, and even space weapons. Boots on the ground still matter, but less than before. A thorough overhaul of human resources is imperative. The Agnipath scheme is just a small step in that direction but an important one. The government can tweak the details to assuage hurt aspirations but must not surrender to agitators as it did earlier in the case of land acquisition and farm reforms.

Currently most recruits serve for around 15 years and may then draw pensions for 50 years!

After the “One Rank One Pension” populist reform, defence spending on pensions exceeds that on military hardware. This is insane. Agnipath will reduce the pension bill gradually but very substantially. The money saved can be redirected to high-tech staff and equipment. India will have fewer but more skilled, better-equipped armed forces.

Agnipath aims to hire 46,000 ‘Agniveers’, of whom 34,000 will leave service after four years with lump-sum benefits of Rs 11 lakh. The ultimate aim is to have regular soldiers and Agniveers in a 50:50 ratio. This will reduce their average age from 32 years to 26, a huge improvement since younger soldiers are fitter and tougher.

However, the new approach must not be limited to the 1.2 million armed services personnel alone. India also has close to a million personnel in ten para-military and civilian security forces. The biggest of these is the Central Reserve Police Force with around 350,000 personnel, used for internal security and counter-insurgency. Next comes the Central Industrial Security Force with over 150,000 personnel, providing security for public sector corporations and departmental undertakings.

The Railways have a separate Railway Protection Force with 75, 000 personnel. The Assam Rifles look after security in the North-East, the Border Security Force staffs the borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police staffs the border with China, and the Sashastra Seema Bal is deployed on the borders with Nepal and Bhutan.

Obviously, different tasks require different sorts of specialisation. But the current approach of having independent forces with separate procedures for recruitment and development is highly inefficient and expensive. It leads to excessive numbers, excessive salary and pension payments, and people of the wrong age in the wrong place.

It will make more sense to deploy youngsters in the armed services in their twenties, when they are fittest, then retrain them for para-military duties, and later still for civilian security duties. This general approach can be fine-tuned for the requirements of each force.

Every security force will require specialists, but a big chunk of staff in each force can be from the armed services. This will reduce total staff, salary, and pensions. That will dismay those who view wasteful proliferation of posts as “job creation.” Vested interests in each service will oppose reforms tooth and nail. Yet we surely need an integrated approach to security rather than unconnected silos.

Some critics say that soldiers with just a year or two of experience will be like kindergarten kids, unsuited for warfare. Phooey. In World War II, the British Indian Army hired over two million recruits who within a couple of years thrashed the earlier-triumphant Japanese Army. If this is what kindergarten kids can achieve, let’s have more of them.

Other critics warn that demobilising so many gun-trained youngsters in an era of high unemployment will mean leading them into crime, terrorism, or other forms of violence. The fear is vastly exaggerated. After World War II, countries across the globe demobilised maybe 40 million people. This caused a huge unemployment problem everywhere yet was managed peaceably with few exceptions.

Even today up to a lakh service members per year are demobilised in their thirties without violent outcomes (though of course they have the security of pensions). Civilian security services are expanding rapidly today in India and have become one of the greatest job creators. They will happily snap up trained Agniveers with four years of skills.

Unemployment is a huge problem today. Youngsters hoping to get into the armed forces on cushy terms are understandably angry with Agnipath, especially those fearing they will not be able to apply under the new age guidelines (which subsequently have been relaxed). But wasting limited military budgets on unwanted staff would be the worst possible way of tackling unemployment.

After the riots, the government explained that Agniveers would get preference in recruitment in other paramilitary services like the Assam Rifles. This sounds more an attempt to assuage the rioters than a well-planned strategy. India needs a major re-think to integrate its different security arms.

Why defence of India is not a job creation scheme | India News - Times of India

India News: Money saved on pensions through Agnipath can be redirected to high-tech staff and equipment

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

@vsdoc @Faceless

 

[Bagheera0084]

Path to disaster

Agnipath, the short-term contractual scheme for the recruitment of soldiers in the Indian army, was one such issue that agitated many voters in rural India

Sushant Singh
Published 03.07.24, 07:14 AM

Narendra Modi’s third term as prime minister, this time as the head of a coalition government, has not begun on a good note. There has been bad news galore. The leaks of examination papers of entrance exams conducted by a Central agency have created a furore that is unlikely to subside soon. Then came the news of a train accident where the safety procedures had failed. The roofs of three airports have come crashing down. Ayodhya, the centrepiece of Modi’s 2024 election campaign, witnessed collapsed roads, waterlogging inside the railway station, and complaints of leakage and poor drainage in the under-construction Ram temple.

After the election results which have dented and diminished his image as a political leader, Modi would have hoped for better news in his new stint as the prime minister. He is, however, lucky even now. Imagine, if this bouquet of bad news had gone viral during the election campaign. Not that Modi has acted upon any of the pressing issues raised by the Opposition during the polls that damaged his prospects at the hustings.

Agnipath, the short-term contractual scheme for the recruitment of soldiers in the Indian army, was one such issue that agitated many voters in rural India. Since youth unemployment in India has remained at high levels under Modi, the loss of any permanent job opportunity hurts the young aspirants even more. But Agnipath is not merely about the voters who turned against Modi, or the spectre of unemployment, or the Modi government’s inability to create jobs. It is about India as a country because this four-year contractual scheme impacts India’s national security, that too at a time when it faces a major military challenge from a powerful China at its borders.

In his yet-to-be-published memoir, the former army chief, General M.M. Naravane, has recounted that he mooted the idea of a “Tour of Duty” scheme for recruiting a limited number of soldiers — around 5,000 of the 60,000 army recruits every year — on the pattern of short-service officers for five years. The soldiers, enrolled on the same terms as regular soldiers, would be “released after the completion of their ‘tour’ with the option of re-enlisting for another tour, if found to be fit.” Naravane’s proposal was meant to save some funds which could be used for the army’s much-needed modernisation. A study found that for a batch of 60,000 Agniveers, the total saving on salaries would amount to Rs 1,054 crore besides massive cuts in the pension bill in the medium to the long term.

The Prime Minister’s Office grabbed the idea and increased its scope and applicability. It said that the complete intake would be short-service based and it would also apply to all the three services. General Bipin Rawat, who was then the Chief of Defence Staff, then got involved. For the Indian air force and the Indian navy, the whole thing “came like a bolt from the blue.” Under Naravane, the army had asked for the retention of 75% of the recruits while Rawat sought a 50% retention. Eventually, Modi’s PMO brought it down to 25%, much to the chagrin of the armed forces.

The political leadership never took ownership of the scheme, pushing the military leadership to front the proposal when it was launched in June 2022. There were spontaneous protests by aspirants at numerous places in North India but they were soon brought under control. With the mainstream media acting as the handmaiden of the Modi government, voices of anger and frustration went unreported and unheeded till Rahul Gandhi announced that his party, if elected to power, would cancel the Agnipath scheme and revert to the original recruitment methods that had stood the test of time. The defence minister, Rajnath Singh, was forced to respond that the government was willing to consider some changes to the scheme if such a need arose during a review.

After nearly two years, there is ample proof that the short-term contractual scheme has been a disaster for the armed forces. No formal testimony has been released by the armed forces but anecdotal evidence and media reports have highlighted the poor quality of intake, low training standards, lack of integration of Agniveers with regular soldiers, pressure on units in field areas to depute soldiers for extra-regimental postings and a loss of ethos that has served the Indian army for nearly two centuries. The air force and the navy have suffered even more; their expert manpower requirement, with technical and specialised training, is under greater pressure. There are questions about their operational readiness if radical changes are not made to the scheme.

As the Modi government had no discussion with Nepal before implementing the scheme, the longstanding arrangement of Gorkhas serving with the Indian army has stopped. Those units have been compelled to recruit Garhwalis and Kumaonis from Uttarakhand to make up for the shortfall. Last year, the army chief even considered a proposal to start disbanding Gorkha battalions. These young men from Nepal are already fighting with the Russian army in Ukraine and may take up an offer to join the People’s Liberation Army if the Chinese Communist Party were to make such a move.

After the election results, the National Democratic Alliance government has formed a group of secretaries from 10 key ministries to review the Agnipath scheme and suggest ways to make the armed forces recruitment programme more attractive. Bureaucratic in nature, the committee is unlikely to suggest any fundamental restructuring of the flawed idea. Its recommendations are likely to have a bigger pension — like payout to families of Agnipath recruits who die in service — and better incentives for re-employment after the young recruits are demobilised.

Meanwhile, after their own review, the armed forces have told the defence ministry that the Agnipath scheme needs changes in four aspects. These comprise providing financial support in case of death or disability of soldiers, deciding on a longer tenure of contractual service, an increase in percentage of those being retained after the four-year tenure and a specialised agency handling job-placement for those demobilised from service. The government’s response to the suggestions is not yet known but additional monetary benefits will only ward off public pressure and buy the political leadership some time.

Meanwhile, the army’s manpower shortage has reached critical levels. During the pandemic, the Modi government stopped recruitment till the armed forces accepted the Agnipath scheme. That led to a deficiency of 1,80,000 soldiers in a 1.3 million-strong army. The army is recruiting 28,000 Agniveers every year, which translates to 7,000 regular soldiers per year, while 60,000 retire every year. The army is overstretched on the China border, is deployed against Pakistan, and is fighting militancy in Jammu and Kashmir. The status quo is not sustainable. Something will have to give.

The military leadership is silent, dancing to the tunes of its political masters as a hallowed institution pays the price. The joint secretary in the PMO dealing with the subject told a retired lieutenant-general, “Sahib ko sab malum hai.” When the top political leadership believes that it knows it all, the price is often paid by the country. India must do everything to escape such a fate.

Sushant Singh is lecturer at Yale University and Senior Fellow at Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi

https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/path-to-disaster-agnipath-impairs-indias-national-security/cid/2031160

 

[Bagheera0084]

Ex-Navy chief: 'Agnipath will degrade army's combat effectiveness'

The Agnipath scheme, which was rolled out in June 2022, allows youth to serve in the armed forces for four years.

Saurabh Sharma
Updated Jul 04, 2024, 6:38 PM IST

Former Indian Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh on Thursday said the new defence recruitment scheme - Agnipath - will degrade Army's combat effectiveness and that the only motivation driving this scheme was reducing the pension bill.

Singh said this while replying to a tweet by Arun Prakash, retired chief of naval staff, who recently wrote a column on the new scheme and said the sole litmus test for any change or reform in the military must be: "Does it enhance or degrade combat effectiveness?". Prakash also said that economics takes a back seat to national security.

"Agree Sir. The only motivation driving the Agnipath is reducing the pension bill. The fact that this scheme will degrade combat effectiveness is known to all who understand national security," said KB Singh, who served as Chief of the Naval Staff from May 2019 to 30 2021.

The Agnipath scheme, which was rolled out in June 2022, allows youth to serve in the armed forces for four years. Under the scheme, after four years of service, 25 per cent of soldiers will be retained and the rest 75 per cent will return to civilian life. There shall be no entitlement to gratuity and pensionary benefits.

While the government maintains that this scheme has been brought in to enhance the youthful profile of the armed forces and bring about a transformational shift towards a more tech-savvy military, some argue that it has been done to save pension bills. The Agnipath scheme does not have any pension provision but agniveers will be provided non-contributory insurance cover of Rs 48 lakhs for the duration of their engagement period in the Indian Army.

The critics, including the opposition parties that have promised to abolish this scheme if elected to power, also argue that this scheme has one major lacuna that it does not provide enough time for the training of soldiers.

In a tweet on July 2, Prakash said that the Agnipath scheme had imposed huge operational handicaps on combat units, which are forced to accept barely trained recruits, fit only for sentry duties.

Maj Gen (Retd) Kuldip Sindhu appeared to agree with him. He said it reminded him of paraphrased speeches of two eminent US Senators: "If we can't afford to suitably equip and pay our military, DON'T send them to war" & "Don't tell me we haven't the money to treat our men or provide them a dignified life when they return home battered, bruised & maimed"!

Sushant Sareen, security analyst and senior fellow at think tank ORF, said there are serious issues with Agnipath, but India can't be spending huge amounts on pensions. "Economics cannot be entirely divorced from national security," he said in a tweet replying to Prakash. "A balance has to be found else you end up without an economy and with no nation to secure - ask the Soviets. There are issues, serious ones with Agnipath. These need to be fixed. But we can't be spending huge amounts on pensions that will bankrupt the state - pl take a look at Pakistan."

In a piece published last month, Arun Prakash, the former navy officer, said that given the transformed nature of warfare, downsizing of the Indian army, by substituting manpower with smart technology and innovative tactics, had become an imperative need. "Against this backdrop, a scheme on the lines of Agnipath, appropriately constituted, and focused on enhancing “combat effectiveness” rather than “effecting savings” or “generating employment,” could have triggered a reformative process," he wrote in The Indian Express. "But a number of caveats need to be borne in mind in this context."

"Firstly, given the parlous security situation, on the country’s northern and western borders as well as the ongoing domestic turbulence, this is not the best time to cast the armed forces — already short of manpower — into turmoil, with a radical and untried new recruitment system," the former chief of the naval staff said.

Prakash further said that such a scheme, in its present form, was suitable only for the army, whose large infantry component was not excessively burdened with technology. In the case of the Navy and Air Force, he said, "It must be recognised that at least 5-6 years are required before a new entrant can acquire enough hands-on experience to be entrusted with the operation or maintenance of lethal weapon systems and complex machinery and electronics."

The former top navy officer also suggested that there should have been a pilot project before implementing what he called a 'radical' reform. "No matter how extensively the issue was discussed in meetings or on files, a radical change of this nature should have been subjected to a trial before service-wide implementation." Ideally, he said, a few units of the regular or territorial army could have been earmarked as a testing ground, and feedback obtained.

Ex-Navy chief: 'Agnipath will degrade army's combat effectiveness'

The Agnipath scheme, which was rolled out in June 2022, allows youth to serve in the armed forces for four years.

www.businesstoday.in

 

[Bagheera0084]

Agnipath a good scheme implemented poorly—military fixing it, defence ministry should listen

Agnipath is a good idea but implemented poorly. The unseemly political slugfest ignores that it rightly aims to lower age profile of armed forces and the ballooning pension bill. A pilot could have helped build consensus and measure impact. The military is working on tweaks. Defence ministry should listen, act.

Amravati white paper is Andhra Pradesh’s chance for a do-over. CM Naidu knows what it takes

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