On June 14, 2022, the Agniveer Scheme was introduced, and several Indian states experienced violent demonstrations. The scheme attempts to recruit soldiers into the three military services below the rank of commissioned officers. There will be no other way to join the military besides through the Agniveers Scheme. All new hires will only be retained for a total of four years.
This method will create a new military rank called “Agniveers” for those that are hired. The first round of applicants for the Indian Navy’s Agniveers scheme began registering on Friday, July 1. We talked about the Agniveer scheme over the phone with Frank Rausan Pereira, Editor-in-Chief of Bharata First and a former Rajya Sabha TV anchor.
What are your thoughts about the Agniveer scheme as it offers retirement in just four years?
Government is right now paying massive tax bills with regards to the pension bill retirement, 50% of India’s defense expenditure goes on it. At some point of time, this had to be addressed, if you look at this government’s track record as well, it is looking for privatization and minimal governance. With this perspective, they have come out with a scheme. There is a certain section of society that is very upset with this four-year scheme because this is not a lifelong job.
Arm force requirement is a big requirement of the Government of India. We have a sense of security when we apply for government jobs and lakhs of people apply for them. Now they feel wronged but in long run, the taxpayer money is used. Also, because existing pension scheme ensures that the pension cost will only go up. The nature of warfare is changing rapidly in terms of cyber warfare , artificial intelligence etc. Thus, we need to spend much more on technology rather than manpower. Our economy is not doing well so we can’t invest more in the defense sector.
Students used to train themselves physically for months but Agniveer gives only six months of training, do you think it can influence our army’s strength?
It could but we will have to see what kind of implication it will have in long run. We are going ahead with it only as an experiment. When we try something out, only then we will know how it will work out. But as far as the quality of the army, I would be happy. However it should have been better if we would have some pilot project first, or some kind of experimentation process for fact finding that it will work or not. But unfortunately that did not happen. So we can only move forward and see for now; if it works or not.
However, on the other side, the protestors had done wrong by destroying public property and people have lost their lives. How can we expect them in the army because the armed forces have some discipline and a mindset.
As this scheme is all about serving for only four years, do you think it can bring down Agniveers’ dedication towards military and our country?
There has to be dedication in those four years because the government has already mentioned 25% of those are to be retained only. There won’t be any other recruitment process, so they have to be good at their work, then only they will be selected. Several state governments also said that many of the personnel will be selected from them.
So, they will be dedicated because there is a dedication to serve the county and the people should have the will to serve their country. Look at other countries like Israel, all the youth have to undergo mandatory military service for three years. Nobody pointed a finger at that because technology is good and we should also spend on that. Also, the patriotic feeling comes from inside.
The Agniveer servicemen will be trained for weapons handling. However, is there a possibility for them to get involved in crime after their four years of service?
I agree that is a concern because several youths will be trained for the arm. They could be a danger to the society. We will have to come up with something to deal with it. You can just increase the size of the army forces and pay huge salaries. If they are not required like I said nature of warfare is changing we need to look at different avenues. For instance, we can learn from China’s model of manufacturing.
The government need to create jobs in other sectors also, where youth can be engaged, why only armed forces, why not some other sector? Job creation is a major problem now and the private sector also has to come in a big way and needs to make a conducive environment. For that, the economy has to improve. It’s not a myopic approach, it has to be a multiprogram approach. Hence, we should see the economy as a whole and employment will also be generated.
Also, The highest number of applications are made in para military forces like ITBP, CISF & other such forces. This shows that most People don’t want to be in the area of conflict zone or involve in war like situations. They are happy in protecting Airports, Museums or Buildings. So the government has to look at these job creating opportunities also.
75% of Agniveers won’t get ex-serviceman benefits, what if it demotivates the youth to join?
The benefits have been given to them something around rupees12 lacs; also something is better than nothing. Some youths are not employed at all, and some of them may not be interested in doing you know frontline compact, conflict zone postings, and all of that. For them it is good they have experience of 4 years, they have money 12 lakhs. Then yet they have decided what they want to do in life.
You can’t keep saying that you are taking up a job and expecting the government to pay me because the burden on taxpayers goes up. It’s you, me, and other clusters who are paying. I am not saying that it’s the best option or an option that is good to be 100%, I am saying that without giving it a try how can we say it’s working or not. Only if we can try then we can say it works or not and then we can take a call after 4 years or 5 years later then we decide and figure out if we want to make any changes in the scheme.
Will the Agniveer Scheme have an impact on India’s literacy rate?
Like there is a negative impact on the people who have arms trained physical compact and all of the year going through. It’s going to be a danger there can to anything without any training or that. You can see the protesters are coming and doing all the damage when there are trained arms and what they can do, that is a different thing of it.
Another side is this even in India we have well-known army people because the discipline in the army could bring in their positive change in their life. Whatever way it will go it’s difficult to say. It’s, either way, negative impact on society or positive impact on the society because we have so many young youths you know who know the way of life as far as the army is a concern, they will be more disciplined and know how to live the life that is a good thing.
Government jobs will be available after Agniveer but what about private employment? Do you believe after Agniveer, their corporate career will go down the hill?
There are no perks as such but they can be employed like anyone else as 21-year-olds or 23-year-old who gets into the market and system and apply for the job. The fact is that the work in the armed forces for 4 years is going to be a good thing for their CV and resume, for something they can talk about practical experience.
I am sure companies want the servicemen that would develop private sector companies, any ex-servicemen can do very well in private sector. It is not a point of perks as such, they could be in a better place of interest to apply for such Corporate jobs because they would have went through the system and they would know how to follow them.
Instead of going as an Agniveer, why not go directly to the job you intend to take after retirement because there is no job security as per Agniveer scheme.
It is also a whole thing that for 4 years they are recruited and employed only 21-years-old and 22-year-olds are going to be further employed. They have a working experience, this stands for more than any other physical knowledge or theoretical knowledge, the work experience will teach them a lot. Also, make them up the better trained and suited to create a Good society. And to work within and work in a framework of society. If you look at the top MBA school or anything like that what they ask is work experience so this also counts as a good work experience.
As per the Agniveer scheme, India will eventually join the list of nations like Russia and Korea that requires military service for citizens of a particular age, do you think that’s possible?
It’s a good thing if you ask me for a personal opinion. I have always been in a favor of compulsory military service for at least 2 to 3 years. This will bring up patriotism in youth, which brings a trend of service to the country. That will help the country as well as the individual in the long run.
Talking about the question, The Agniveer scheme go beyond that you can look it as a job, not compulsory military service. This scheme will affect the average age of 18 to 21. If you can choose the prime ministers at the age of 18, I think, you can also do well in serving your country at the age of 18.
A distinct rank will be provided to Agniveer and they won’t be considered as a part of the normal regiment system. Will it create discrimination among the officers?
The army has the nature of its way and doesn’t allow for any kind of discrimination. Here hierarchical structure comes within the army and that hierarchical structure has been working for hundreds of years. It’s working for the Indian army and other armies as well and also bring about discipline. So, I won’t say they would be any discrimination, they are definitely the hierarchical key that will happen, and that is not only found in the Indian army but will be found everywhere.
Government expects the youth to be well aware of the technology but villagers and people with no educational privileges also apply, won’t it build a gap between tech and non-tech applicants?
If you look at the armed forces as a whole, the Air force and the Navy need more technical people. They look for people with a technical background which is a nature of a job. That is how it works and the problem of technical and non-technical exists in the old recruitment schemes as well. It is not that people from rural India never apply for armed forces.
People from all across the country are in the armed forces, it’s not necessary for tech-friendly people but in the air force and Navy, They need a little more tech-savvy people, but in the army, it’s not that much required. So, we leave this wisdom to these respective wings of the armed forces to decide, what kind of people they want because they know best what they need.
The government didn’t run any pilot testing and the requirements are for 46,000 people. Don’t you think it’s an unsafe game as they are risking a huge amount of money and manpower?
Like, I already said the only mistake that has been done so far was probably not running a pilot project. Why they didn’t run a pilot project, I don’t know but if they run a pilot project it could be better. So, they could have some kind of data and figure out whether it is working or not. The government is thinking by its wisdom, this is something that needs to go with this moment.
Should women be included in the Agniveer scheme or not?
Yes, they should be included in the scheme. I feel that scheme should open for anyone and that’s the only way, for that because we are a developed society now. We believe in equal opportunities and the supreme court had said it very clear about women in combat roles. We are looking for women in a combat role in the armed forces. So, equal opportunity should be given to everyone
What is your overall perspective about the Agniveer scheme?
There are of course pluses and minuses. It’s not the perfect scheme but it is not a scheme that is in that debt of water completely. Something has to be done and it needed to be done in the changing nature of warfare because of which pension bill is going on. It had to be a “let’s give it a try” and then see where it goes. Then we can say after a few years whether it will work or not.
And this brings an end to our insightful conversation with Frank sir. His information and opinions added more to our knowledge and we’d love to know your thoughts on the same.
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