Agnipath scheme will have to prove its efficacy

The Agnipath scheme for recruitment of soldiers into the armed forces has been unveiled with the Defence Minister stating that it was not driven by the need to cut down the pension bill of the services, which was being assumed as a major factor for inducting troops who would exit after a four-year tenure, without any pensionary benefits. Infusion of a patriotic spirit, national integration, preparing a pool of disciplined youth for other walks of life and a more tech-savvy and young military are the explicit and implicit objectives that have been mentioned.

The fatality rate of our young officers is disproportionately high as they always lead from the front. In fact, they are the real Agniveers! These sub-unit commanders, whatever their years of service, depend on their troops to see the mission through — in war and in peace — and these are the troops who are there for the long haul, who have lived and breathed together in barracks and bunkers and who know and feel for each other as a band of brothers. A group identity is the pillar of our infantry regiments.

Tour of Duty (ToD) is a system and concept used mainly in armies of developed countries where the strength of standing armies is boosted by either a conscription or voluntary method for specific operational deployments, mostly expeditionary in nature as in the US. These short-term soldiers are from welfare states who mostly go back seamlessly into their civilian life and vocations. In a developing country like India, which has highly inimical neighbours with disputed borders necessitating continuous operational deployment for ongoing conflicts of varying intensities and proxy wars which manifest as insurgencies waxing and waning from time to time, the need for maintaining a standing professional army cannot be overemphasised. Imposition of a changed system of recruitment for manning this force needs a rational examination.

The retired community of the armed forces has expressed its deep angst as they understand the service conditions and requirements of building and nurturing of a life-long commitment for a calling which has no parallel in civil life. However, the brunt of this novel system will have to be borne by the officers who are now in service and among them primarily the young officers up to the rank of sub-unit and unit commanders of combat units. They are the cutting edge of the Army and they are the ones who are expected to deliver under any circumstances. The Navy and Air Force would be impacted by this scheme to a lesser degree as these are platform-centric forces. The technical arms would also not be open to this type of entry. The major fallout will be in the combat arms and that too in the infantry — the queen of battle.

The workhorses of the combat arms are its young officers, whether in war or peace. They are the ones who lead troops to victory or death, be it at Rezang La in 1962, at Basantar in 1965, at Garibpur in 1971, in Kargil in 1999 or in the numerous pitched encounters fought with insurgents and terrorists, which are flashed on ticker tapes of TV news channels. The fatality rate of our young officers is disproportionately high as they always lead from the front. In fact, they are the real Agniveers! These sub-unit commanders, whatever their years of service, depend on their troops to see the mission through — in war and in peace — and these are the troops who are there for the long haul, who have lived and breathed together in barracks and bunkers and who know and feel for each other as a band of brothers. A group identity is the pillar of our infantry regiments. This gives a sense of belonging and camaraderie that provides a young lad a sense of security. The ToD system may dilute this basic sense of a lifelong collective identity. The Army will still be expected to deliver with this changed organisational structure. It would be a tough call but given time and resources, in terms of enhanced training and administrative infrastructure, this system may stabilise with the attendant benefits.

Another area which has aroused concern is the pan-India induction pattern. A number of units, even in the Infantry, have an All India All Caste composition and they are none the worse for it. In fact, this has been tried out successfully in new raising units of otherwise single or binary caste regiments.

The profession of arms is a noble calling and is indeed an Agnipath which requires high levels of dedication and commitment. While the large hordes of unemployed youth, desperate for any means of livelihood, would ensure the vacancies of Agniveers are oversubscribed, making selection percentage even lower than earlier, it will be left to the Army to train and motivate them to the desired levels of combat soldiering. In this, the government has to step in purposefully by ensuring adequate budgetary layouts as per the needs of the services, provision of post tenure opportunities and responsive approach to organisational or performance glitches of this new system.

It would have been much more prudent to try it out on a smaller scale as a test case. However, it is heartening to note that the current Vice Chief of the Army has mentioned that “the Agnipath scheme will be tweaked if required, based on ground experience and operational necessities.” Therefore, it is to be inferred that it will remain open to modifications and course corrections. The institution of an independent performance review committee, which may include retired service chiefs and could render a periodic appraisal of Agnipath, would go a long way in assuaging the misgivings being stridently voiced.

Violence on the streets, mainly in Bihar and other places, against this short-tenure recruitment policy may have been instigated by vested interests and miscreants but there would also be genuine anxieties about a radical change in an attractive avenue of employment. The government apparently is seized with this issue and looking at lateral inductions and qualification enhancement of exiting personnel. On the heels of the unveiling of the Agnipath policy, the Home Minister has gone on record to state that primacy will be accorded for recruitment into the Central Armed Police Forces and Assam Rifles, to the Agniveers who leave the Army after the four-year tenure. In fact, the CAPFs would get a cohort of recruits every year who would be trained and experienced, easing the training burden of these forces. The Education Ministry has announced launching a three-year skill-based degree programme to enhance future career prospects of Agniveers. Some chief ministers too have spelt out that priority will be given to them for employment. It would be in the fitness of things if such assurances become a formalised policy.

A whole-of-nation approach is required to realise the benefits that can accrue from this scheme. With the decision having been taken, the cynicism has to stop and Agnipath given a chance to prove itself.