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Agnipath withdrawal demand at Parliament panel meeting by Opposition
Demanding rollback of the scheme, some of the MPs also pointed out that the government had to eventually backtrack on the three controversial farm laws last year.
At least six opposition MPs on Monday flagged concerns over the Agnipath scheme for short-term recruitment into the armed forces and demanded its withdrawal during a meeting of the parliamentary consultative committee on defence, people familiar with the matter said.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh and the three service chiefs on Monday briefed the panel on Agnipath, but some Opposition members — including those from the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) — pointed out loopholes in the new recruitment scheme.
Demanding rollback of the scheme, some of the MPs also pointed out that the government had to eventually backtrack on the three controversial farm laws last year.
“Some of the MPs who attended the briefing also demanded that the scheme be referred to the parliamentary standing committee on defence and wider consultations be held with stakeholders,” one of the people cited above said, requesting anonymity.
To be sure, the three services have already kicked off the recruitment process under the Agnipath scheme. The armed forces will recruit 46,000 Agniveers (as those recruited under the scheme will be called) this year, including 40,000 in the army and 3,000 each in the navy and the air force.
TMC’s Lok Sabha floor leader Sudip Bandopadhyay reminded the defence minister that the government was “equally adamant on the farm laws but finally those had to be withdrawn”. He also questioned the provision of retaining only 25% of agniveers and said, “You mentioned PSUs and other central forces will absorb the 75% agniveers. But do the PSUs have enough vacancies to take in such a large number of employees?”
Some Opposition leaders, including TMC’s Saugata Ray, asked the defence minister why the three service chiefs were asked by the government to defend the scheme. Singh, however, said the service chiefs were the best people to explain the technicalities of the scheme, one of the people cited above said.
At least 12 lawmakers, including four from the BJP, attended the briefing of the committee, which has a total of 20 MPs as members — 13 from Lok Sabha and seven from Rajya Sabha.
The Union government on June 14 announced the new scheme replacing the legacy system of recruitment to lower the age profile of the armed forces, ensure a fitter military and create a technically skilled war fighting force capable of meeting future challenges. It sparked widespread protests and forced a concerted outreach by the government to scotch apprehensions about the scheme.
The defence minister on Monday made a detailed presentation on the scheme before the panel. However, six Opposition MPs gave a hand-written note to Singh, urging the government to rethink the scheme, said another person aware of the matter, also wishing not to be named.
The lawmakers who signed it are Shaktisinh Gohil, Rajani Patil (both Congress), Supriya Sule (NCP), Saugata Roy and Sudip Bandyopadhyay (both TMC) and AD Singh (RJD), the person added.
Congress MP Manish Tewari, who has been publicly lauding the scheme, was not among the signatories. He, however, asked few questions regarding the scheme that were answered by the three service chiefs, the person added.
Congress MP Shaktisinh Gohil demanded that the scheme be rolled back as “it offered no security, rank or pension to those seeking to join the armed forces”, said a third person. The MP also demanded that a pilot project should be launched for the scheme and discussed in parliament, he added.
The scheme has drawn a good response from defence aspirants. The Air Force has received 749,899 applications, compared to 631,528 last year, which was the highest in any recruitment cycle. The applicants will be competing for 3,000 jobs in the air force.
The response IAF has got under Agnipath proves that the apprehensions of those opposed to scheme were “unfounded”, Air Marshal Anil Chopra (retd), director general, Centre for Air Power Studies, had earlier said.
“People still feel they have a great opportunity to serve the nation through the new scheme and they will work very hard to compete and become permanent air warriors,” Chopra added.
The Agnipath scheme seeks to recruit soldiers for only four years, with a provision to retain 25% of them in the regular cadre for 15 years after another round of screening.
The four-year service includes training for 10 weeks to six months. Those recruited under the legacy system trained for nine months and served the armed forces for about 20 years before retiring in their late 30s with a pension. Agniveers released after four years will not be eligible for a pension.
