Many veterans and politicians say Agnipath scheme may harm Army morale

The BJP govt. must stop compromising the dignity, traditions, valour and discipline of our forces, says Rahul Gandhi

Many retired army officers and politicians of parties other than the BJP have strong reservations against the government’s Agnipath scheme of recruiting youth between the age group of 17.5 and 21 years for a four-year stint in the armed forces with a provision of voluntary retention after this period, based on merit.

On Wednesday, a large number of aspirants to the armed forces blocked roads and railway tracks in different parts of Bihar to lodge a protest against the new scheme.

Earlier, responding to a media query, Union Minister and former Army chief General V.K. Singh said he was not involved in formulating the scheme and that he did not know much about it. He said things would be clear after it was implemented on the ground.

Targeting the Central government, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Twitter, “When India faces threats on two fronts, the uncalled for Agnipath scheme reduces the operational effectiveness of our armed forces. The BJP govt. must stop compromising the dignity, traditions, valour & discipline of our forces.”

CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury tweeted, “Instead of raising a professional Army Modi govt. proposes ‘soldiers on contract’ to save pension money! Training contract soldiers with no other prospects after 3-5 years but to serve private militias! Scrap this anti national scheme”.

Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav also took to Twitter to say: “What will the youth do if the biggest employers of the country, “Indian Railways and Army”, start giving jobs in the name of contract and lateral entry in the civil service? Will the youth do contract job of four years to guard the business bases of the capitalist friends of BJP in future?”

Rashtriya Lok Dal president Chaudhary Jayant Singh said temporary recruitment in the Army will be detrimental to the discipline and morale of the army. “It’s like a diploma crash course which will not be of much value for the very young recruits who come out after four years. Also, no transparency on what criterion will be used to select the candidates who can opt for full recruitment after four years.”