‘Agnipath meant to keep Army young, battle-ready’; PM Modi defends scheme, targets Opposition for 'misleading' nation

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, July 26

Amid ongoing politics over the Agnipath scheme, Prime minister Narendra Modi on Friday came down heavily on the Congress-led opposition for “politicisation of the issue”, saying the scheme “aimed at keeping the Indian army young and battle-ready”.

Speaking at the 25th Kargil Vijay Diwas celebrations, PM said Agnipath scheme is an example of ongoing military reforms. 

“For decades, the matter of the urgency to have a young Army has been discussed in Parliament and by several committees. The issue of the average age of Indian soldiers being more than the global average has been raising concerns. That is why this matter was raised in several committees through the years. But previously no political will was shown to address the challenge which has consequences for national security. The country has addressed these concerns through the Agnipath scheme,” the PM said defending the scheme which has been used by the opposition parties as a major election issue.

The PM said the aim of the Agnipath scheme is to create young armies. 

“The aim of the Agnipath scheme is to keep the armies battle-ready at all times. Unfortunately, some people have politicised the highly sensitive issue concerning national security. Some people are playing the politics of lies in the urge to advance their individual interests. These are the same people who weakened our armies by perpetrating scams worth thousands of crores in the military. These are the same people who never wanted the IAF to get modern fighter jets. These are the same people who had tried to shut Tejas fighter planes in a box,” said the PM.

Without naming any opposition party, the PM said some people are spreading myths that the government has brought the Agnipath scheme to save pension costs. 

“I want to ask these people — the question of pension for those inducted into the Army today will arise only after 30 years. Then why should the government take such a decision today? The government could have left it for the future dispensations to address. But we honoured the decision (to have the Agnipath scheme) of the Army because for us the nation, not politics, comes first,” Modi said.

He said the history of those misleading the youth is replete with examples of lack of care for soldiers.

“These people allocated Rs 500 crore for one rank one pension and lied about the matter. Our government implemented one rank one pension and gave ex-soldiers more than Rs 1.25 lakh crore. These are the same people who did not bother to build a national war memorial for martyrs for seven decades. These are the same people who did not procure bulletproof jackets for our soldiers guarding the borders,” the PM said attacking the opposition.

Scrapping the Agnipath scheme was the Congress’s principal 2024 Lok Sabha poll promise.