Agnipath row: People protesting won't be allowed to join armed forces, says Military leadership

Amid protests against Agnipath, the Defence tri-service briefing on Sunday attempted to clear the doubts about the short-term armed forces recruitment scheme stressing that the "transformative reform" was needed to reduce the average age of a soldier to 26 years.

New Delhi: Ruling out the rollback of the 'Agnipath' recruitment scheme despite widespread protests, the three services of the military on Sunday came out with a broad schedule of enrolment under the new policy and asserted that it was aimed at bringing down the age profile of the armed forces.

Amid protests against Agnipath, the Defence tri-service briefing attempted to clear the doubts about the short-term armed forces recruitment scheme stressing that the "transformative reform" was needed to reduce the average age of a soldier to 26 years.

"This latest scheme has been set into place after the Indian military has gone two years without recruitment due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The scheme will also reduce the average age from 32 to 26 years...In next 4-5 years, our intake (of soldiers) will be 50,000-60,000 & will increase to 90,000 - 1 lakh subsequently. We've started small at 46,000 to analyse the scheme...and to build up infra capacity," said Lt General Anil Puri, Addt'l Secy, Dept of Military Affairs while briefing the media.

He said that 'Agniveers' will get compensation for Rs 1 crore if he sacrifices his life in service of the nation. "The 'Agniveers' would get the same allowance in areas like Siachen and other areas which are applicable to the regular soldiers serving at present. No discrimination against them in service conditions." The officer said that around 17,600 people are taking premature retirement from the three services every year.

"No one ever tried to ask them what they will do after retirement," Lt General Anil Puri said. The reform, he said, was long pending. "We want to bring youthfulness and experience with this reform. Today, a large number of jawan are in their 30s and officers are getting command much later than in the past," he said.

Asked about protests and arson by the angry youth, Lt General Puri said: "Indian Army's foundation is in the discipline. No space for arson or vandalism. Every individual will need to give a certificate that they were not part of any protest or vandalism. Police verification is 100%, no one can join without that," he said adding that if any FIR was lodged against them, they can't join. "They (aspirants) will be asked to write as part of the enrollment form that they were not part of the arson, their police verification will be done," he said.

Asked if the armed forces had anticipated the angry response to this scheme, the Army officer said: "We had not anticipated the recent violence over this scheme. There is no place for indiscipline in the Armed Forces. All candidates will have to give a written pledge that they did not indulge in any arson/violence."

Giving details of the Navy's plan to induct 'Agniveers' under the scheme, Vice Admiral (Personnel) Dinesh Tripathi said the naval headquarters will come out with a broad guideline for the recruitment by June 25. The first batch of recruits will join the training programme on INS Chilka in Odisha by November 21, he said, adding the Navy is recruiting both men and women as 'Agniveers' under the scheme.

About the Indian Air Force's plan for induction under the Agnipath scheme, Air Marshall S K Jha said the registration process will start on June 24 and the process for online examination for phase one of the recruitment process will begin on July 24. "We are planning to start the training for the first batch of recruits by December 30," Air Marshall Jha said.

About the Army's recruitment plan, Lt Gen Bansi Ponappa said the Army will issue a draft notification on Monday and subsequent notifications will be issued by various recruitment units of the force from July 1 onwards. Recruitment rallies under the Agnipath scheme will take place across India in August, September and October, he said.

Lt Gen Ponappa said the first batch comprising 25,000 personnel will join the training programme in the first and second week of December. The second lot of recruits will join their training around February 23. He said a total of 83 recruitment rallies will be organised across the country to select around 40,000 personnel. Referring to the provision of exit of 75 per cent of the 'Agniveers' after a four-year tenure, Lt Gen Puri said around 17,600 personnel take premature retirement annually from the three services.

"It is not that exit will take place only under Agnipath scheme," he said. Unveiling the scheme on Tuesday, the government said youths between the ages of 17 and-a-half and 21 years would be inducted for a four-year tenure while 25 per cent of them will be subsequently inducted for regular service. The youths to be recruited under the new scheme would be called 'Agniveer'.

Following the announcement of the scheme, agitations broke out and a tense situation prevailed in various states. The protests took place in several states including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Jharkhand and Assam so far. In a few states, the protests turned violent, which included setting trains on fire and stone-pelting incidents, and arrests were made. In Uttar Pradesh at least 250 people have been arrested and six FIRs were lodged till Friday. One died in Telangana's Secunderabad district.

Protesters expressed concerns about their future after four-year of contractual employment in the Indian Army, hence, demanding immediate rollback of the scheme. Owing to the violence, the train services of the East Coast Railway zone were also affected. In states like Bihar, where trains were set on fire in some places, the state police are probing the role of the coaching institutes behind the violence.

In an effort to pacify the protesters, the Centre has introduced several modifications to the newly-unveiled Army recruitment scheme since the initial announcement. n Saturday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved a proposal to reserve 10 per cent of the job vacancies in the Ministry of Defence for Agniveers meeting requisite eligibility criteria.

The government had also announced that it has decided to increase the upper age limit for the recruitment of Agniveers from 21 years to 23 years for the recruitment cycle of 2022. The Union Home Ministry decided to reserve 10 per cent vacancies for recruitment in Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and Assam Rifles for Agniveers. Home Ministry has further announced that it will give three years of age relaxation to Agniveers beyond the prescribed upper age limit to recruitments in CAPFs and Assam Rifles. For the first batch of Agniveers, the age relaxation will be of five years.

Moreover, there are several state governments like Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Karnataka that have come out and announced various supportive measures for the Agniveers who would return to the civil life after their 4-year service in the Defence Forces. Several state governments have announced that Agniveers, after serving the armed forces for 4 years, will be given preference in filling vacancies in state police forces.