NEW DELHI: The Department of Military Affairs (DMA) is “actively” taking stock of the feedbacks on serving Agniveers from the services to analyse the effects of their induction with an aim to make the commensurate changes suitable for the Army, Air Force and the Navy.
Sources said the personnel department heads — air officer in-charge personnel, chief of personnel (Navy) and adjutant general (Army) are working on it. While the personnel in the DMA took stock of the things in the beginning of this week, said another source, such feedback is received regularly.
The Army is worried about the continuous decrease in the induction which is going to be maximum by the end of this decade, said another source. “Unless we take steps now, the shortfall will take around another decade to match up to the sanctioned strength of personnel,” he said.
This is significant in keeping the dense/continuous deployment of the personnel along Eastern Ladakh since the skirmishes and the consequent standoffs began in May 2020.
This newspaper reported the operational problems faced by the Units due to the scarcity in the number of personnel which already exists among the officers and those below officer ranks. It was in July 2023 that TNIE first reported of the concerns after the induction of the Agniveers began in 2022.
Even Rajnath Singh in March this year said that the Government was “Open for change” in the scheme.
This newspaper in July 2023 reported that the ambitious Agnipath scheme might see some changes as the armed forces were mulling ways to obviate problems that may arise in the future. The problems, among many, include the decline in the numbers of personnel at the soldier’s levels due to the restricted number of recruitments planned up till 2026.
One of the proposals being worked out, as per the sources, included raising the percentage of Agniveers getting permanently absorbed to 50% . Another issue that is being looked into is in inducting eligible candidates for technical streams such as aviation, engineering, electronics and similar trades.
“The cap in the maximum recruitment age to 21 years is leaving a smaller pool of eligible candidates. Thus, the proposal is to raise this to 23 years so that we can get the youth passing out of polytechnic institutions,” said a source.
The eligibility age is in the range of 17.5 to 21 years and the enrolment is done in various categories and trades, including the technical ones. Raising the recruitment numbers is also a figure in the proposal. Otherwise, it will lead to a dearth in numbers at the soldier level, which will take years to complete. Between 2022 and 2026, around 1.75 lakh Agniveers are expected to be recruited. The aim of the proposals is “to make up for the decline in a planned manner. Otherwise, it might turn into bigger problems, functional and operational,” sources said.
As per L-GAnil Puri, the then additional secretary of the Department of Military Affairs of the Ministry of Defence, the intake of Agniveers will go up to 1.25 lakh in the near future and will not remain at 46,000, which is the present figure.
This newspaper first reported in July 2023
This newspaper in July 2023 reported that the Agnipath scheme might see some changes as the armed forces were mulling ways to obviate problems that may arise in future. The problems, among many, include the decline in the numbers of personnel at the soldier’s levels due to the restricted number of recruitments planned up till 2026. One of the proposals being worked out, according to sources, included raising the percentage of Agniveers getting permanently absorbed to 50%.