Agnipath and defence
That several Union Ministries are coming forward with various schemes for the rehabilitation of retrenched Agniveers only raises more questions. Will not young men who know that they will be employed for just four years be more anxious about their future? Second, even if these promises are observed in full, the numbers of those so reemployed will be far less than those retrenched, leaving the bulk to fend for themselves. This has the potential to demoralise and demotivate even serving Agniveers. It may be fair to assume that the controversial Agnipath scheme is the brainchild of the highest political office, aided by the bureaucracy and then thrust down the throats of the three services. Service chiefs being paraded on TV channels to defend what is essentially a political decision amounts to civilian authorities including Ministers disowning the scheme. Launching such a radical manpower scheme in a hurry, with long-term consequences shows flawed security-related decision making processes under the current regime.
S.K. Choudhury,
