Congress asks govt to keep Agnipath scheme in abeyance, hold consultations

“We have read and heard the views expressed by retired defence officers. Almost unanimously, they have opposed the scheme and we believe that many serving officers share the same reservations about the scheme,” he said.

The Congress said it has several concerns regarding the scheme – the first one being the short training and short service.

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“Our first concern is that the Agnipath soldier will be trained for six months and will serve for another 42 months when 75 per cent of the recruits will be discharged. It appears to us that the scheme makes a mockery of training; inducts into the defence forces an ill-trained and ill-motivated soldier; and discharges a disappointed and unhappy ex-soldier into society. The age of recruitment — 17 to 21 years — raises numerous questions. A large part of our youth will be totally excluded from serving in the defence forces,” he said.

The scheme is also aimed at considerably reducing the defence pension bill which has been a major concern of governments for many years.

Chidambaram said the stated objective of savings on the pension bill is a weak argument and has not been established beyond doubt.

“On the other hand, the short period of training (6 months) and the unusually short period of service (42 months) may have negative consequences on quality, efficiency and effectiveness. We fear that the scheme may turn out to be a case of ‘penny wise and security foolish’,” he said.

He said several defence officers have pointed out that a fighting soldier must take pride in his unit, must be willing to lay down his life for his country and comrades, must not be risk averse and must be capable of exhibiting leadership.

“They fear that each one of these objectives will be in jeopardy under the scheme. The announcements by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Education on post-discharge opportunities appear to be after-thoughts. They show that the scheme was poorly conceived and hastily drawn up. A major change in the mode of recruitment should have been examined thoroughly and a pilot scheme should have been tried and tested. Nothing of that sort has been done,” he said.

The Congress pointed out that several experts have suggested alternative models to address the issues of inadequate recruitment to the defence forces and argued “there is no indication that the alternatives were examined”.

“Given the situation on our borders, it is imperative that we have soldiers in our defence forces who are young, well-trained, motivated, happy, satisfied and assured of their future. The Agnipath scheme does not advance any of these objectives. It is our duty to warn the country of the consequences of a hastily drawn up scheme. We would urge the government to keep the Agnipath scheme in abeyance, hold wide consultations with serving and retired officers, and address the issues of quality, efficiency and economy without compromising on any of the three considerations,” he said.