Agnipath, fire and misfire

 The Centre's Agnipath scheme has led to violent protests in different parts of the country. Many senior veterans and the young defence aspirants are unhappy with the scheme.

The scheme sends a clear signal of financial weakness. Under the scheme the candidates inducted would serve in the armed forces for a period of 4 years. Only about 25 percent of them would be retained and regularised to serve out normal 20 years term. The remaining would be demobilised with a one time severance package of ₹11-12 lakhs.

Pensions, healthcare and other benefits for soldiers serving a full 20 year term will be far more than the severance package. The removal of pensions and healthcare benefits the trms of these scheme are similar to lower level posts in private secto organisations.

There is already a high level of competition to join the forces. For most of the youth in the country a government job is the only life time guarantee of a safe, well paying job. They see the armed forces as the best option. For the less resourceful or educated an army recruitment is equivalent to the UPSC.

Only about 45,000 "Agniveers" will be recruited now per year compared to usual 60,000  for full tenure recruitment rallies. The rallies have been put on hold for more than 2 years and a backlog of at least 130000 has built up. 

The Government sees it as a job generating oppurtunity. The young sees Agnipath as the opposite , they see it as an armed forces job destroyer.

The scheme could be reinvented or retuned for rather than being a job creating programme the same money can be used to improve the military capabilities like drones, missiles, electronics etc. 

Even though there are many flaws in the agnipath scheme the forces needs a reform. The young people's concerns should also be understood.