Varun Gandhi writes to Rajnath Singh on concerns over Agnipath; 'will create disaffection'

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Varun Gandhi, on June 16, questioned several provisions of the Centre's "Agnipath" scheme, which calls for the recruitment of soldiers on a short-term contractual basis, and said that doing so will increase discontent in the youth. He urged the administration to make its stand clear.

In a letter to Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Gandhi claimed that the younger generation had expressed to him their concerns and scepticism regarding the radical changes to the selection process for soldiers, which also included a proposal that 75% of recruits under the programme would be required to leave the military after four years of service without receiving a pension.

“As 75% of soldiers will become 'unemployed' after four years and their total numbers will keep rising every year, it will give a rise to more disaffection among the youth,” the BJP MP said.

Stating that the corporate sector does not show much interest in hiring even regular military personnel who leave after 15 years of service, he questioned what the prospects will be for these retired soldiers.

As they will be older than others with similar qualifications, four years of duty will disrupt their education and make it harder for them to find employment or pursue further education, he said, adding that they will also experience financial difficulties.

“These soldiers with only six-month basic training may be a cause of disruption to the existing regimental formations,” the Lok Sabha MP said.

As only 25% of the 'Agniveers' will continue after four years, the scheme will result in a waste of training costs and will prove to be an unnecessary burden on the Defence Budget, Varun Gandhi wrote in his letter to Rajnath Singh.

“The government should keep the interest of unemployed youth paramount and bring out various policy aspects of this initiative,” he said.

More about Centre's Agnipath scheme

Mindful of the concerns over the future career prospects of 'Agniveers', the Ministry of Education (MoE) also decided to launch a special three-year skill-based bachelor's degree programme for them. Under the program, 50% of the credits required for a graduate degree will come from skill training -- both technical and non-technical - received by the Agniveers.

The remaining 50% credits will come from a basket of courses that cover a variety of subjects like languages, economics, history, political science, public administration, sociology, mathematics, education, commerce, tourism, vocational studies, agriculture, 'Jyotish' and ability enhancement courses on environmental studies and english communication skills.

Priority in state govt. jobs, state police force

On June 15, a day after the Agnipath scheme was launched, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, declared priority in recruitment for Agniveers, to the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and the Assam Rifles. Madhya Pradesh CM, Shivraj Singh Chouhan said Agniveers will get priority in joining the Madhya Pradesh Police recruitment and Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar promised a priority for Agniveers for state government jobs.