Scheme with some changes can serve as a tool to draft new Policies
By Noor UL Shahbaz
Agnipath Scheme (Agnipath Yojna) is a new scheme introduced by the Government of India on 14th June 2022 to be implemented from September this year, for recruitment of soldiers below the rank of commissioned officers into the three services of the armed forces. The scheme is both for male and female aspirants of age group 17.5 to 21 years. This scheme will be the only route for recruitment into the military. Personnel recruited under this system are to be called Agniveers (fire warriors). The term of service for some recruits will be four years and a total of 25% of the Agniveers will be offered further tenures in the Armed Forces on successful completion of their tenure. The remaining 75% of the recruits will be offered monthly salary and at the end time of four years a fixed amount approx twelve lakh rupees as golden handshake over and above the stipend they will get during their tenure of four years. The government of India plans to recruit approx. forty-six thousand personnel every year through this scheme. Prior to the introduction of the Agnipath scheme, soldiers were recruited into the armed forces on 15+ year tenure with lifelong pension. From 2019 no recruitment in the armed forces has been done, and the Government of India cited COVID-19 pandemic for this.
The introduction of the scheme has been criticised for lack of consultation and public debate. Because the scheme will bypass many things including long tenures i-e the concern is short length of service, no pension provisions for those released early after the completion of 4 years (i-e, 75%) and the age restriction because of which many of the current aspirants were rendered ineligible to serve in the Indian armed forces and other benefits which is prevalent in the old system. The scheme is also looked as a service of temporary contract and as such unacceptable in the defence services. With regard to this the Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamta Banerjee criticised the BJP-led central government, alleging that the saffron camp was trying to create its own ‘armed’ cadre base through the new defence recruitment programme. Terming the scheme as an insult to the armed forces, Banerjee also wondered whether the BJP plans to hire ‘Agniveer’ soldiers as ‘watchmen’ at their party offices, after their four-year service period.
The BJP is trying to create its own armed cadre base through this scheme. What will they do after four years is a big question to answer? The protests are going in some states against the scheme and also the plea is filed against the scheme in the Supreme Court of India by Advocates M. L. Sharma, Vishal Tiwari and Harsh Ajay Singh alleging that the government has quashed the century-old selection process for Armed forces which is contrary to the constitutional provisions and without having parliamentary approval. Besides resentment the scheme is considered as advantageous as a transformative reform of recruitment policy of the Armed Forces, as a unique opportunity to the youth to serve the country and contribute to nation building, as to make armed forces profile to be youthful and dynamic, availability of well-disciplined and skilled youth with military ethos in civil society, and as attractive financial package for the Agniveers. This is an important outcome behind the scheme that defence services must not be considered as an opportunity of employment and hence the Agnipath scheme allows the patriotic and motivated Agniveer youth to serve the armed forces. This is one of the important and solid statement that the BJP led government is trying to understand the patriotic citizen population of India. This is also the intent of BJP to introduce this scheme and minimise the budget on man power but at the same time use that money on technology that can boost up the defence department. The government also stood in staunch defence of the scheme, asserting that it will lead to long-term benefits for the military. The subtext being that the scheme will eventually reduce the ballooning salary and pension bills of the military, thereby leaving a large sum of money for the modernisation of armed forces. Because it is considered that India is spending a good portion of defence budget to maintain its military manpower and take care of defence pensioners. The central government foots a hefty bill for lakhs of veterans and defence civilians, whose pensions exceed the amount disbursed to serving personnel. In the budget estimate for financial year 2022, the salaries and pensions of the forces make up over 54% of the total defence budget. The increase in the share of pension can in large part be attributed to the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme implemented in 2015. Under this all defence personnel retiring at the same rank are entitled to uniform pension, irrespective of their date of retirement. In an article on The Times of India, economist and political analyst Ajit Ranade wrote that OROP was clearly a major factor that led to the design of Agnipath. Ranade noted that due to the rise in pension and salary burden, the capital spending on modernisation has declined by as much as 8 percentage points in the last decade.
When the scheme will be analysed in a broader perspective it has some fundamental advantages for the Indian nation as a whole, the young and energetic blood will serve to their country, they will prove to be the disciplined and well trained citizens post retirement, a chain of trained personnel will come out to defend the country at any time, income ratio for maximum households will be undertaken under this scheme, employment opportunity for more youth as compared to present times, public money by way of budget for defence can be utilised equitably, defence service as a milk giving mother will not feed particular families, it will be possible to purchase more and more modern technology for defence etc. My point is that India as a whole is currently suffering from the rising percentage of unemployment for educated youth and if the ways are not made open for them the coming times will be worst and our Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh is also a victim of worst rising percentage in unemployment rate. In this very phenomenon if the like scheme will be made applicable to other departments of government may be it can serve the dire need of employment opportunities equally for educated youth. The like scheme for recruitment in other departments of government must be thrown open for public debate, because of the fact that the government cannot for a longer time ignore the unemployed youth and push them to wall and at the same time become a tool to feed particular class. The equal opportunity, the social security, the livelihood for all, is a must for all and the policies of government in the times of crisis must change. As I have mentioned in my earlier article titled, ‘Sustainability for All…’, “The Educated Unemployed Youth is not a jetsam of present Society”. The government is under the constitutional responsibility to create opportunities for the unemployed youth, it must not be understood that I am talking against the current class who is serving, but I am impressing upon the fact that educated unemployed youth is not the second class citizen of this country and the employed the first class, but all must be under the same umbrella of the government. I reiterate that it should not be considered that “few men are leaders because of their social, monetary status and influence; it should be the belief always that, given facilities of material and intellectual development, leaders may spring from any race, class or nation”. I am entitled to the enjoyment of all those social and political privileges to which others are entitled. My vote in the election of the representatives is as valuable and potential as that of any other. I can also become the recipient of any office of the state for which I may be eligible. To refuse any man access to authority is a complete denial of his freedom and equality, because, “Unless I enjoy the same access to power as others, I live in an atmosphere of contingent frustration”. One who lives in an atmosphere of frustration has neither any inspiration in life nor any incentive for it. He accepts his place in society, which accident of birth has given him, as a permanent condition of life. There can be no equality in a society where a few are masters and the rest are slaves. Although those who avail the government employment are the real servants for our society but unfortunately the government employment is used to divide the society in upper and lower class, rich and poor class, prestige and disrespect/insignificant class etc. Defence services although are of prime importance but at the same time other services also have their immense importance for the functioning of the government. If the government has dared to change the age old way of recruitment process in defence department then it is and must not be a tough job for the same government to think rather I can say take a step to modify the structure of services in other government departments as well so to give a lifelong relief to the educated but unemployed youth of this nation.
Noor UL Shahbaz,M.A, LL.M (GOLD MEDALIST),Guest Lecturer and former Acting Principal at Sopore Law College can be reached at im1415151819@gmail.com
