WHAT IS AGNIPATH SCHEME ?

  • It s a scheme of Indian Armed forces in which selected candidates will be enrolled as AGNIVEERS for 4 years in non-officer ranks.

OBJECTIVES OF THE SCHEME:

  • To attract young talent from the society to effectively exploit, adopt and use emerging modern technologies.
  • To provide armed forces ethos, courage, camaraderie and teamwork in youth.
  • To reduce the military expenditure in pensions and other benefits which are non-capital based.

BENEFITS OF THE SCHEME:

For Armed forces-
  • Youthful profile by optimal balance of youth and experience.
  • Improved battle preparedness with energetic, diverse, trained and resilient youth.
  • It will create good reserves of combat ready soldiers for future.
For Nation –
  • National Integration based on unity in diversity with equal opportunities to youth and women from all regions.
  • No commitment of pension and other retirement benefits to recruits will provide government an extra leverage to focus on other social development schemes.
For Individual –
  • Opportunity for youth to fulfill the dream of joining armed forces.
  • Good financial package make individual stable.
  • Confident and better citizen by military training, ethos and camaraderie forged over the years.

CONCERNS WITH THE SCHEME:

  • Many military experts are of the opinion that shorter duration service of 4 years could compromise on training, morale and commitment in comparison to the permanent soldiers.
  • Agniveers may have to face hardships in getting employment after 4 years of service.
  • Many critics also argued that the scheme may lead to possible militarisation of society and rise in crime rates if the outgoing agniveers did not get suitable employment after 4 years.
  • Agnipath scheme lacks pension and other retirement facilities for recruits.
Syllabus : Prelims + Mains; GS2 – Governance