New Delhi: The government on Thursday sought to address concerns raised about and criticism of its new Agnipath scheme for recruitment of enlisted men and women from those aspiring for a career in the armed forces as well as veterans concerned about the potential fallout.
With violent protests against the new ‘Agnipath’ Army recruitment scheme raging across several states, a jittery Union government on Thursday night announced a ‘one-time’ relaxation to the upper limit for recruits from 21 to 23.
Though the stated rationale for the change is that it had “not been possible to undertake recruitment” into the Army over the past two years, the fact that a cohort of young men who had hoped to join the Army would now be excluded was known to the defence ministry before the scheme was announced. But the angry reaction it triggered was clearly not anticipated, forcing the Modi government into damage control mode.
Apart from issuing a ‘Myth versus Facts’ document to address the concerns raised on the scheme, the government’s information dissemination arm issued a series of social media posts, saying that in the coming years, recruitment of Agniveers will be around triple the current recruitment in armed forces and ruled out any change to the regimental system.
“The scheme will bring in new dynamism to the armed forces. It will help the forces bring in new capabilities and take advantage of the technical skills and fresh thinking of the youths… It will allow the youths to serve the nation,” the Press Information Bureau said in a Facebook post.
The slashing of intake this year to just 46,000 in the Army, IAF and Navy with an age restriction of 17.5 to 21 years, and that too for four-year tenures with no pensionary and ex-servicemen benefits, has led to protests in states like UP, Bihar, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab and Uttarakhand that traditionally contribute in large numbers to the 14-lakh strong armed forces.
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