The Armed Forces are discussing a reassessment of the Agnipath scheme, keeping in mind the requirement for an ideal ratio between technically proficient and trained manpower and a reduced age profile of soldiers in the military, The Indian Express has learnt.
The services have been periodically reviewing the scheme — for recruitment of soldiers, airmen and sailors for a limited period of four years — ever since it was introduced in 2022. While there have been discussions between the services and the Department of Military Affairs on possible tweaks, no major changes have been cleared so far.
However, according to sources, following Operation Sindoor in May, there have been discussions on increasing the retention of Agniveers, based on factors such as training, experience and expertise acquired by them in their four years. Sources said the performance of Agniveers in Op Sindoor was found to be “excellent”.
The first batch of Agniveers will complete their four years by 2026-end, and a decision on making changes to the scheme is likely to take place around that time. According to current rules, at the end of the four-year tenure, up to 25% of the Agniveers can join the services, subject to merit and organisational requirements.
According to sources, discussions are underway in the Army to increase this retention percentage — with the number varying in different departments. For instance, there are discussions to increase the retention percentage of Agniveers to 70-75 per cent for infantry and other combat arms, 80 per cent for specially trained personnel such as Air Defence, Signals and Engineers among others, and 100 per cent for Special Forces. The Special Forces get selected during their probation period. However, sources said, the proposed increase in retention will be done while ensuring that the average age of Agniveers does not see a huge jump.
According to sources, these percentages are still being discussed within the Army and will be further deliberated upon at the next Army Commanders Conference, before a final proposal is sent to the government for approval.
While there are increasing efforts to procure and induct a range of new generation military platforms, equipment and modern technologies in the Armed Forces after Operation Sindoor, much of the discussions stem from the requirement of a bigger manpower trained to use them. In the Army, for instance, most of such specialised training is done after Agniveers join their respective units after the initial six months of training at their regimental centres.
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Assuming that the selection of trainees is carried out within the first six months of joining a unit and subsequent specialist training takes another three to six months, the bulk of Agniveers would only be available for another two to two-and-a-half years as per the current scheme, an official told The Indian Express.
“This makes the cost of training unviable. As the specialists move out every four years, a larger number of people would be required to be trained in every cycle. This will increase the burden on the organisation and also make it difficult to find adequate instructors from a limited pool of the retained manpower,” he said.
While it is not known whether the Navy and the Indian Air Force will also propose to increase retention, Air Chief Marshal A P Singh had said last year that the IAF’s feedback on Agniveers has been very positive. “We were asked if we could absorb more than 25 per cent Agniveers and we said that we could,” he had said.
Sources in the Navy said it is also open to the idea of increasing the retention percentage of sailors under the scheme, when the first batch completes four years.
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Earlier this year, Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi had said that efforts to align Agniveers’ leave policies with those of regular soldiers and to harmonise benefits in case of casualties were also being considered. He also mentioned the requirement for technically skilled recruits and spoke about the possibility of increasing the upper age limit from 21 to 23 years.
“Technology-intensive services need more senior technical personnel, and the Agnipath scheme, as the only route for admitting them, may fall short of meeting the required number of senior technical personnel,” an official had earlier told The Indian Express, adding that several such senior posts would otherwise fall vacant by 2035.
