New Delhi: Hours after Rahul Gandhi questioned the “Agnipath” defence jobs scheme, the Congress on Thursday urged the Centre to put the controversial plan on hold.
“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,” former finance minister P Chidambaram said.
He was accompanied by senior leaders Ajay Maken, Sachin Pilot and Pawan Khera. “This is like the three controversial farm laws that had to be withdrawn a year later, after nationwide protests. The youth for whom the defence jobs scheme has been announced are protesting across the country just a day after the plan was announced,” Congress leader Sachin Pilot said.
“This is not a time to play with the sensibility of the youth and the defence forces. The scheme is not in the interest of either the youth or the defence forces. I would urge the Centre to stop the plan at once,” Pilot said. The government had announced the Agnipath scheme on Wednesday to recruit 46,000 soldiers for the three defence forces.
“A better way to address the problem of jobs would have been to fill up the over lakhs of positions that are lying vacant in the armed forces,” said Pilot. According to, “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.”
“We have read and heard the views expressed by retired defence officers. Almost unanimously, they have opposed the scheme and we believe that many serving officers share the same reservations about the scheme,” he said. Listing out the party’s concerns, Congress leader Ajay Maken said the Agnipath soldier will be trained for six months and will serve for another 42 months when 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. On the age of recruitment — 17 to 21 years — under the proposed scheme, the Congress said it raises numerous questions as a large part of 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. The short period of training (6 months) and the unusually short period of service (42 months) 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,” said Maken.
The Congress leaders cited the views of several distinguished defence officers, saying they 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. “The ex-servicemen fear that each one of these objectives will be in jeopardy under the scheme,” said Chidambaram.
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Further, the Congress leaders said that the announcements made 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,” said Chidambaram.
“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 said. Citing the situation on the borders, the Congress leaders said it is imperative that soldiers in defence forces are young, well-trained, motivated, happy, satisfied and assured of their future and the Agnipath scheme does not advance any of these objectives.
Pilot said as the Agnipath soldiers will get preference later in jobs in central armed police forces, those seeking fresh recruitment in the central armed police forces would suffer. “Further, the training for an army soldier and a policeman are entirely different,” said Pilot. “Thousands of youths in villages have been waiting for a job in the armed forces for years. Whosever designed the scheme does not understand rural India,” said Khera.
