On Tuesday, Chief of Army Staff, General Manoj Pande stressed on the significance of the Agnipath scheme and said that the agniveers will benefit the force and society as they are more technologically sound. General Pande was speaking at the third edition of the Republic Summit 2023 in New Delhi.
“The benefits of the scheme are manifold but largely what it’ll help us is to bring a much youthful profile for the Indian Army. We’ll have more technologically adapted youth joining the military. The technological threshold will be much better. We’ll also have a fitter army so the ability of soldiers who would be at the frontline would increase,” he said.
“At the end of four years,” he continued, “the soldiers will carry a unique resume, they will imbibe all the values and rest of the qualities that a military stands for. Their contribution to the society and to the nation at large will be significant.”
#ArmyChiefAtRepublicSummit | Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Pande shares his insights on what more we need to do to achieve a completely Aatmanirbhar armed forces #RepublicSummit #TimeOfTransformation @adgpi pic.twitter.com/cfWqE4DoNH
— Republic (@republic) April 25, 2023
When asked about the criticism revolving around the Agnipath scheme, General Pande said that the criticisms have been taken care off and at the end of the four years, people will see the results. “It is going to be the win win situation, not only for the military but for the society and the nation at large. This is transformative scheme and implementation is the key here. There are some changes and issues which we need to pay attention to and we are currently doing it. The current issue which we are looking here at present is the duration for which we train a new soldier,” he stated.
The Chief of Army Staff also informed the Indian Armed Forces about 5 domains of change in addition to the Agnipath programme. He continued by outlining five areas of change for the Indian Armed Forces at the Republic Summit, those being, force restructuring and optimisation, infusion of technology and modernisation, systems, processes and functions, realms of human resources management and Agnipath Scheme and jointness and integration.
“On our own side in the last 9-10 years, a lot of impetus has been given to the borders. Made significant strides in terms of connectivity and communication infrastructure. Communication infrastructure has also improved. More needs to be done. I am hopeful as far as the infrastructural development goes. We are moving in the right direction,” he said.
Earlier also, in June 2022, General Manoj Pande had said that the Agnipath scheme was a win-win for both the youngsters and the Army. He had said that the scheme would not be rolled back and had added that there would be positive changes and the scheme as required when it is rolled out. Massive clashes erupted in several parts of India after the government launched the Agnipath scheme. Students protested against the scheme and said that serving in the Army for four years is not reasonable and those leaving the service after 4 years would have a path full of uncertainty ahead of them.
On June 14, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, along with the chiefs of three armed forces, launched the Agnipath scheme for the recruitment of youth in the armed forces. Those who get enrolled in the armed forces under this scheme are called Agniveers. The enrollment under the scheme is open for both men and women for a four-year period, including the training.
The Defence Minister then had said that after the four-year service period, Agniveers will get preference in PSUs, and State Governments’ jobs. The scheme allows the patriotic and motivated youth to serve in the armed forces for a short period of four-year.
The recruits under the Agnipath scheme, also known as Agniveers, get attractive benefits that include a customized monthly package clubbed with risk and hardship allowances as applicable in the three services. After Agniveers complete four-year of service in the armed forces, they also are slated to get a one-time ‘SevaNidhi’ package that would comprise their contribution, including accrued interest thereon. As of 2022, the Government had announced the recruitment of 46,000 Agniveers.
