Agnipath Scheme of Recruitment

The Agnipath scheme will be the only mode of recruitment for non-officers in the Indian Armed Forces. It will recruit persons aged between 17.5 and 21 years for a short period of four years, which includes six months of training. Amid widespread protests, the central government has raised the upper age limit to 23 years for the recruitment process of 2022. After the completion of four years, only 25% of these personnel will be enlisted in the regular armed forces, whereas the remaining 75% will return to civil life and will not be provided pension and gratuity benefits.

The government claims that the Agnipath scheme will make the armed forces leaner and younger. The average age of soldiers will go down to 26 years from 32 years. It will also inculcate military discipline in those who will be discharged after four years of service. However, the primary aim of this scheme seems to cut down the ballooning pension bills of the defence services. The current budget has allocated `1.19 lakh crore for pensions and `1.63 lakh crore for salaries. This accounts for 54% of the defence budget. The savings resulting from the pension bills will be used in the modernisation of the defence forces. In short, the government is trying to shift its focus from personnel to technology while maintaining a younger age profile of its soldiers.