Lok Sabha panel suggests induction into NDRF on lines of Agnipath scheme

The committee of estimates in a report presented to the Lok Sabha last week recommended the home ministry to induct young and fit people into the NDRF on the lines of Agnipath scheme to strengthen the first response organisation.

The committee of estimates in a report presented to the Lok Sabha last week recommended the home ministry to induct young and fit people into the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on the lines of Agnipath scheme to strengthen the first response organisation.

Lok Sabha. (ANI)

The committee made the recommendation on March 16, noting the work of the force in the recent earthquake in Turkey, where NDRF teams were sent as part of Operation Dost, India’s search and rescue operation in Turkey launched in the aftermath of the earthquake that killed over 50,000 people.

“Applauding the role of NDRF not only in domestic disaster relief but also in international situations like the recent ‘Operation Dost’ in Turkiye for earthquake relief, the committee foresees the need to strengthen the NDRF further,” the report said. “Thus, while reiterating their earlier recommendation, the Committee urge the Ministry to work out a mechanism to make full use of the senior cadets of NCC (including women cadets), as well as trained youth of Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS), who fulfil the essential pre-conditions, in NDRF.”

Urging the ministry to apprise it on this latest suggestion, the committee said, “The Ministry should explore the possibility of enrolling the cadets/youth of these organisations on the lines of recruitment being done for Armed Forces under ‘Agniveer Yojana’.”

On June 14, 2022, India announced the Agnipath scheme for short-term induction of soldiers into the three armed services, replacing the legacy system, 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.

Agnipath recruits soldiers, including women, for only four years with a provision to retain 25% of them in the regular cadre for 15 more years after another round of screening to enhance the operational preparedness of the armed forces and create a skilled and dynamic workforce for employment in other sectors.

The ministry in its earlier replies had said that the NDRF is a force where all its personnel are inducted from paramilitary forces for a period of seven years. The committee in the report suggested the ministry to review the concept of “100% deputationist force” and that refusing to induct NCC cadets who are young and fit just because they are from a voluntary organisation and not a government one is “not desirable.”