Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, on
Tuesday, announced a new plan regarding the defense forces. The name of this
new scheme is ‘Agnipath’ wherein the youth of 17.5 to 21 years will be
recruited into the armed forces for the perioduncalled-forvaloruncalled-for of 4 years. These recruited
soldiers will be given the name of ‘Agniveers.’
However, after the launch of this
scheme, a great section of the armed forces criticized it by saying that it will hit the professionalism, ethos,
and fighting spirit of the armed forces as well as possibly lead to the militarization
of the civil society.
Firstly, military observers believe that
this scheme does not provide any incentive for the youth to join the armed
forces for the tenure of only four years. They also greatly think that the
soldiers recruited under this scheme will be risk-averse as they will be
looking for a second career as well.
Second, it is firmly believed by many army
veterans that the cost of training does not tally with the tenure of this
scheme. Army spends 16 lakhs, Navy around 27 lakhs and IAF spends 39 lakhs for
the training of the cadets, how can someone spend such a huge amount just to
get recruited for the term of four years.
Thirdly, many are also concerned that
after the completion of their tenure, 75% of the trained manpower will be going
out which can later prove to be a national threat as they will be leaving the
armed forces at a very tender age and if will remain unemployed after this,
they can fall into pray of lure crimes.
Lastly, the main question that has come up
is how 6 months of training is enough for Agniveers is enough when it takes 7-8
years for a person to become a fully trained combat-ready soldier.
Here are some of the tweets related to the ‘Agnipath’ scheme.