There is no change in the recruitment process of the armed forces, regimental process in the Army remains unchanged and the all-India, all-class nature remains unchanged for recruitment of Agniveers under the new Agnipath scheme, said Lt Gen Anil Puri, Additional Secretary in the Department of Military Affairs on Tuesday while stressing that objective was based on one thing, youthfulness in the armed forces. Later in the day, the three Service Chiefs met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue.
“Agnipath Scheme balances three elements. Firstly, it will ensure youthful profile of the armed forces. Second, it will ensure technical savvy and adaptable people joining the Army. Thirdly, it will make the individual future-ready,” Lt. Gen. Puri said addressing a tri-service press conference on the issue. The average age profile is expected to drop
Also read: Explained | The Agnipath scheme for armed forces
Talking of the long-pending reform, which he said was a “transformative reform”, he said this has been pending for a long time as part of larger military reforms like higher defence reforms, including the creation of Chief of Defence Staff, integration and jointness, reduction in teeth-to-tail ratio, and a younger profile of the Commanding Officers and soldiers. Many committees like the Arun Singh Committee, the Kargil Committee, and the Shekatkar Committee have made similar recommendations, he said.
There will be no impact on operational preparedness, it will only get better, said Lt. Gen. C. B. Ponnappa, Adjutant General of the Army. Stating that the Agniveers who come in will be trained and will be an integral part of the fighting units, he said, “We hope better qualified and technically adept youth will come in under this scheme.
Lt. Gen. Ponnappa said they have reports from several places that youth have begun training and exercise which he said was a welcome development.
The three Services have fast tracked the recruitment process, officials said even as protests continue against the new scheme.
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Lt. Gen Puri said extensive deliberations were undertaken over the last two years and they had studied procedures in multiple countries like the UK, US, and France among others. “This has helped us incorporate the best practices and brought us to the final scheme that has been launched,” he said.
It is essential to harness and use India’s demographic dividend and that is why we must use our young population in the armed forces, Lt. Gen. Puri said. “We need Indian solutions for Indian problems.”
The Services have issued notifications for recruitment under Agnipath and the registration process is set up begin around July 1.
On the training, Vice Admiral Dinesh K. Tripathi said they will compress the timelines a bit with more use of simulators and use of latest methodology. Quality of training will be improved to make up for compressed timelines of training, he said. “Quality of training will be improved to make up for compressed timelines of training.”
We are thinking of giving tablets and e-readers so that they can read when they have time and don’t have to be in classes also, he added.
“The first batch would be enrolled by December and training would commence by December 30,” said Air Marshal S. K. Jha, Air Officer-in-Charge Personnel.
For the first 4-5 years around 40,000 to 50000 would be recruited every year. After that the intake is set to up to 90,000 and beyond one lakh.
