By PTI
NEW DELHI: Amid students’ protests over the Agnipath scheme for recruitment into the armed forces, Union ministers and chief ministers of the BJP-led states defended the step on Thursday, saying it will open new avenues for youngsters, and urged them to keep away from those inciting them.
Union minister Ashwini Choubey, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader from Bihar where the protests started on Wednesday, claimed that some people are using students for their own political gains, an apparent reference to the opposition parties that have criticised the scheme for short-term contractual employment in the armed forces as soldiers.
In a statement, Choubey said Prime Minister Narendra Modi always thinks and works for the welfare of the country.
“We assure you that this programme is a constructive step to bring in long-term positive results. Lakhs of youngsters will not only benefit from this, but the nationalistic sentiments within them will also be strengthened,” he said.
Those selected under the scheme will get priority in central and state government jobs, he added.
Echoing similar sentiments, Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar said the scheme is a grand campaign for developing skilled manpower in the country.
Describing the scheme as “historic”, Tomar said, “It will open new avenues for youngsters and pave the way for their better future.
” Similarly, Yogi Adityanath and Pushkar Singh Dhami, the chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, also assured the students that they will give “preference” to “Agniveers” for selection in their respective state police forces and other jobs.
“Agnipath Yojana will give a new dimension to youngsters’ lives. It will lay a golden base for their future,” Adityanath said in a tweet while urging young people not to be deceived.
Underlining that the Uttarakhand government is committed to providing employment opportunities to youngsters, Dhami urged them to stay away from any kind of misleading news.
Congress Thursday hit out the government over the Agnipath scheme for recruitment of soldiers on a short-term basis, saying it carries multiple risks and subverts the longstanding traditions and ethos of the armed forces, and may turn out to be a case of “penny-wise and security foolish”.
Congress leader P Chidambaram said retired defence officers have almost unanimously opposed the scheme, and he believes that many serving officers share the same view.
He addressed a joint press conference with party leaders Ajay Maken, Sachin Pilot and Pawan Khera.
“The Agnipath scheme is controversial, carries multiple risks, subverts the long-standing traditions and ethos of the armed forces and there is no guarantee that the soldiers recruited under the scheme will be better trained and motivated to defend the country,” Chidambaram said in a statement.
The Congress leader said the first concern is that the Agnipath soldier will be trained for six months, will serve for another 42 months, and after that 75 per cent of the recruits will be discharged.
“It appears to us that the scheme makes a mockery of training; inducts into the defence forces an ill-trained and ill-motivated soldier, and discharges a disappointed and unhappy ex-soldier into the society,” he said.
He said the age of recruitment – 17.5-21 years — raises numerous questions as a large part of the youth will be totally excluded from serving in the defence forces.
The stated objective of savings on the pension bill is a weak argument and has not been established beyond doubt, he said, adding that on the other hand, the short six-month period of training and unusually short 42 month period of service may have negative consequences on quality, efficiency and effectiveness.
“We fear that the scheme may turn out to be a case of penny wise and security foolish’,” he said.
Chidambaram said several distinguished defence officers have pointed out that a fighting soldier must take pride in his unit, must be willing to lay down his life for his country and comrades, must not be risk averse and must be capable of exhibiting leadership.
“They fear that each one of these objectives will be in jeopardy under the scheme,” he said.
The Congress leader said announcements by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Education on post-discharge opportunities appear to be after-thoughts.
“They show that the scheme was poorly conceived and hastily drawn up. A major change in the mode of recruitment should have been examined thoroughly and a pilot scheme should have been tried and tested.”
“Nothing of that sort has been done,” he said, noting that several experts have suggested alternative models to address the issues of inadequate recruitment to the defence forces.
There is no indication that the alternatives were examined, he claimed.
“Given the situation on our borders,” the former home minister said, “it is imperative that we have soldiers in our defence forces who are young, well-trained, motivated, happy, satisfied and assured of their future.”
The Agnipath scheme does not advance any of these objectives, he said.
“It is our duty to warn the country of the consequences of a hastily drawn up scheme. We would urge the government to keep the Agnipath scheme in abeyance, hold wide consultations with serving and retired officers, and address the issues of quality, efficiency and economy without compromising on any of the three considerations,” the Congress leader said.
The government has claimed that there is no change in the Army recruitment system under ‘Agnipath’ scheme and the number of personnel to be recruited in the first year of its rollout would only make up to three percent of the armed forces.
There have been widespread protests against the new model of Army recruitment.
The government unveiled Agnipath on Tuesday — calling it a “transformative” scheme– for the recruitment of soldiers in the Army, Navy and the Air Force, largely on a four-year short-term contractual basis.
Under the scheme, around 46,000 soldiers will be recruited this year between the ages of 17-and-a-half years and 21 years into the three services, the defence ministry said.
Trains were set afire, window panes of buses smashed and passersby, including a ruling BJP MLA, pelted with stones in Bihar by Army job aspirants whose protest against the short-term recruitment scheme continued for the second consecutive day.
Protests against the scheme also took place in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
Hundreds of young people took to the streets in Haryana’s Gurugram, Rewari and Palwal while scores of youngsters in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr and Ballia districts staged protests against it.
Amid the protests, government sources said no change is being done to the Army’s regimental system under it and the numbers of personnel to be recruited in the first year of its roll out would only make up three per cent of the armed forces.
The scheme is aimed at increasing opportunities for youths to serve in the armed forces and the recruitment of the personnel under it will be around triple of the current enrolment in the armed forces, they said without specifying the duration of the comparison.
On the criticism that the short-duration tenure of ‘Agniveers’ will harm the effectiveness of the armed forces, the sources said such a system exists in several countries, and hence, it is already “tested out and considered best practice for an agile army”.
The Opposition came down heavily on the government over the scheme and demanded a rollback.
“No rank, no pension, no direct recruitment for 2 years, no stable future after four years, no respect shown by the government for the army,” Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi, attacking the Centre over the scheme.
“Listen to the voice of unemployed youths of the country, don’t take ‘agnipareeksha’ of their patience by making them walk on ‘Agnipath’, Mr. prime minister,” the former Congress chief said.
In a tweet in Hindi, Priyanka Gandhi said there are many dreams for the future in the eyes of those preparing for recruitment in the armed forces such as serving the country and their parents.
“What will the new army recruitment scheme give them? After 4 years, no job guarantee, no pension facility = no rank, no pension. @narendramodi ji don’t crush the dreams of the youth,” she said.
Questioning various provisions of Agnipath, BJP MP Varun Gandhi said it will give rise to more disaffection among the youths and asked the government to make its stand clear.
In a letter to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Varun Gandhi said the young population has shared their questions and doubts with him about the radical changes in the soldiers’ recruitment process which also proposes that the 75 per cent of the recruits under the scheme will retire after four years of service without pension.
The Left parties demanded that the Agnipath scheme be scrapped and be taken up in Parliament for discussion, alleging that it does a “disservice” to India’s national interests.
“The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) strongly disapproves the ‘Agnipath’ scheme that does disservice to India’s national interests. Professional armed forces cannot be raised by recruiting ‘soldiers on contract’ for a period of four years. This scheme, to save pension money, severely compromises the quality and efficiency of our professional armed forces,” CPIM general secretary Sitaram Yechury said in a tweet.
CPI general secretary D Raja tweeted, “Finding jobs has become literally a ‘Path of Fire’ under Modi. Govt is trying to hoodwink the restive youth by #AgnipathScheme. It’ll make our army contract based & jeopardise the future of our youth. It should be withdrawn immediately! Youth deserve proper, secure jobs!” Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appealed to the central government to give the youth the chance to serve the country throughout their life, not just four years.
Samajwadi Party president Yadav also hit out at the central government over the Agnipath scheme.
“The security of the country is not a short-term or informal issue; it expects a very serious and long-term policy. The negligent attitude that is being adopted regarding military recruitment will prove to be fatal when it comes to the protection of the future of the country and the youth,” Akhilesh said in a tweet.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati hit out at the Union government over the scheme, terming it “unfair towards rural youth”.
She urged the Centre to “reconsider” its decision immediately.
The government unveiled Agnipath on Tuesday — calling it a “transformative” scheme– for the recruitment of soldiers in the Army, Navy and the Air Force, largely on a four-year short-term contractual basis.
Under the scheme, around 46,000 soldiers will be recruited this year between the ages of 17-and-a-half years and 21 years into the three services, the defence ministry said.
Former Punjab chief minister and BJP ally Amarinder Singh on Thursday suggested a rethink on the Centre’s Agnipath scheme for recruitment to the armed forces, wondering why the government had to make such “radical” changes.
“It will dilute the long existing distinct ethos of regiments,” said Amarinder Singh, who is a former Army captain.
According to a statement, he wondered why the government needed to make such “radical changes” in the recruitment policy, which has been working “so well for the country for so many years”.
“Hiring soldiers for four years, with effective service of three years, is not at all militarily a good idea,” said Amarinder Singh, whose party Punjab Lok Congress is an ally of the BJP in Punjab.
After the completion of the four-year tenure, 25 per cent of the recruits from each specific batch will be offered regular service.
The move triggered protests across the country, with several political parties and the youth criticising the decision.
Amarinder Singh too opposed the “all-India, all class” recruitment policy.
He said different regiments like the Sikh Regiment, Dogra Regiment, Madras Regiment and so on have their own distinct ethos, which is very important from the military point of view and which seems to have been overlooked.
He said it will be very difficult for recruits from different cultural backgrounds to adjust to a culturally different environment that is exclusive to a particular regiment and that too within such a short span of time, which effectively comes to less than three years.
The already existing short duration tenure system of seven and five years is fine, but four years, which once training and leave period are excluded, effectively comes to less than three years, will not be workable, he said.
“It will never be workable for a professional army which is faced with tough challenges on both eastern as well as western theatres,” he remarked.
