On Armed Forces table: Let double the Agniveers stay back, train them longer

These changes, however, are not yet formal recommendations to the government. These are proposals that are still being discussed by the Armed Forces.

One of the changes to the scheme being discussed within the Army is increasing the retention percentage from the current 25 per cent to 60-70 per cent for regular troops and nearly 75 per cent for technical and specialist soldiers, including Special Forces.

The feedback collated by the Army has indicated lack of cohesiveness and camaraderie among the Agniveers and a tendency to compete, and not collaborate, to get absorbed, leading to lack of trust between the Agniveers.

“This is not a desirable quality in the Armed Forces and increasing the retention percentage is aimed at addressing it,” an official said, adding that discussions are also underway to retain at least 50 per cent of Agniveers in the other services.

The aim, the official said, is to increase bonding and willingness to carry each other along than compete. “The larger interest of the organisation is to have soldiers with good camaraderie and regimental spirit to fight together,” the official said.

In the Army, the training period for soldiers before the announcement of the Agnipath scheme was between 37 and 42 weeks.

The reduction of this training period to 24 weeks for Agniveers has been adversely impacting their overall training, according to the feedback received by the Army.

The Army is discussing that the training duration for Agniveers be increased to what it was originally for soldiers, while increasing the overall service period to around seven years from the current four years, so that gratuity and ex-servicemen (ESM) status could be granted to them.

The move, if implemented, will also make Agniveers eligible for benefits applicable to ESM and the entire period of seven years of service as Agniveers will then likely be counted as part of pensionable service for those getting permanently retained in the force.

Other suggestions include lateral absorption of graduates as technical personnel.

“Technology-intensive services need more senior technical personnel and Agnipath, as the only route for admitting them, may fall short of meeting the number of senior technical personnel,” an official said, adding that several senior posts for them will otherwise fall vacant by 2035.

Suggestions being discussed include protecting the seniority of Agniveers absorbed in the Central Armed Police Forces, instead of them starting from scratch in the paramilitary forces, and certain graduate Agniveers eventually forming a pool of defence civilians.

The feedback received from different commands of the Army shows that the physical standards of Agniveers are up to the mark and they are willing to study and have a higher technical threshold.

It has, however, been found that their focus remains on retention tests instead of overall training.

It has also been seen that more applicants for the scheme are coming from the urban areas.

Announced in June 2022 after a gap of two years in military recruitment due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Agnipath scheme was aimed at recruiting soldiers, airmen and sailors to the Armed Forces for a period of four years.

At the end of the four-year tenure, up to 25% of them can apply voluntarily to join the services on a regular basis, subject to merit and organisational requirements.

The biggest difference between a soldier employed on regular service and one recruited under the Agnipath scheme is that the former will draw a pension after retirement, while an Agniveer, who is not in the 25% who gets absorbed after four years, is not entitled to any pensionary benefit.