Opinion: 'Agniveer' Has Benefits - But Must Be Suspended For Now

The recent announcement of the 'Agniveer' scheme pertains to how young people will be recruited in the Indian defence forces. The sudden announcement after a hold-up of normal recruitment for over two years, has caused massive upheaval. The armed forces, which have generally remained beyond the hustle and bustle of Indian politics, have been drawn into a massive controversy. The upsurge of anger across the nation by aspirants has left a big question mark on the brilliance of the recruitment policy. The violent turn of events is unfortunate and condemnable. Things thereafter have moved so fast that anything that is written gets overtaken by events by the time it's published. There has already been one major amendment by the government; 'deal sweeteners' are being announced by various officials by the hour and every day. To sum up, the final word is yet to be written. With so many variables, it would be a good idea to focus on the constants; perhaps that will show us a suggested way ahead. In this case, there are three relevant constants - The Government, The Defence Forces and The Citizenry.

The Government: The Government of India, irrespective of the ruling party, grapples daily with the Guns v/s Butter debate. While India ranks high on various parameters concerning the Armed Forces, it ranks abysmally low on many parameters of human development. This needs correction but requires a lot of resources to be diverted away from Defence. Given our geography and strained relations with two neighbours, both nuclear powers, defence needs to be given some priority if India intends to sustain its quest to be regional power. The government is correct in its endeavour to ensure that every rupee allotted to the defence kitty derives maximum benefit: 'bang for the buck' as they say. Pay and pension bills are unsustainable and this issue needs correction. There is a requirement for accountants to step in somewhere because resources are finite and legitimate claimants are far too many. Maintaining fighting-fit armed forces is a costly business, but this is something the nation has very little choice about considering our relations with both our neighbours.

The Defence Forces: The Armed Forces are constitutionally mandated to defend India, and every part thereof. For this, they need to be empowered, both in terms of men and material. What part of the limited defence kitty goes towards men (serving and retired), and what goes towards material is something that needs constant attention at the highest levels. A revolution in military affairs has made the battlefield much more technology-intensive. Military hardware is much costlier to purchase and maintain than it ever was. With an adversary like China, there can be no short cuts for India as far as tech enablement is concerned. But it would be grossly wrong to dismiss the Human Factor. The recent standoff with China, particularly during the winters, showed that while machines flagged, the Indian soldier endured. So even in the future tech-intensive battlefield, there will be a requirement of humans who are young, physically fit and with high levels of military acumen and motivation. All this will happen only when the soldier approaches his work as a lifetime calling. We need professionals and not dilettantes. In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell states that it takes ten thousand hours of intensive practice to achieve mastery of complex skills. Ten thousand hours translates to approximately fifteen calendar months; however, assuming an eight-hour working day, it will take almost four years to have those ten thousand hours of intensive practice, and this is only about getting proficient, not upgrading. In the 'Agniveer' scheme as it stands, after four years, 75% of the soldiers will be eased out. While battalions will receive a new draft of 'Agniveers' beginning their ten-thousand-hour journey afresh, those who exit will be embarking on a different albeit uncertain ten-thousand-hour journey. But having said that, there is no doubt that Indian Armed Forces needs right-sizing by harmonising operational needs with manpower requirements while keeping in mind the fact that today's recruit is tomorrow's pensioner.

The Citizenry: For this, let's only consider potential aspirants. The Indian Armed Forces are a source of employment for youth, particularly those who haven't received quality education required for other jobs. What sweetens the deal is job security and lifelong pension. In the rural heartland, from where the bulk of our soldiers are recruited, a career in the military drives lifelong-respect, economic security for the family and enhancement of the family fortune. It's true that everyone will not find a job in the forces, but everyone has hope till all avenues have been exhausted. Anything that even threatens to take away that hope may not go down well. This needs to be considered while taking any decision. The policy-makers on schemes of this nature need to consider the mental and psychological makeup of rural society. The sudden announcement of such path-breaking initiatives has always had an adversarial impact, as seen recently during the Farm Laws agitation. It is the same strata of society that has been impacted by this policy, thus the timing of the rollout has been very bad. Rural stress has shot up in recent years due to demonetisation, lockdowns, increasing inflation and rising unemployment. This proposal seems to touch a raw nerve even with the veteran community of soldiers, most of whom reside in villages.

The Way Ahead - Between the variables mentioned above, there needs to be better communication from the government. These are my considered opinions:

- First, the pending recruitment process should be completed. This alone will generate trust and obviate any extreme reactions. The most important aspect is to restart the due process halted due to Covid in March 2020.

- The fiscal issue needs to be worked out by further disbanding and closing down a large number of logistics organisation, many of them being now irrelevant.

- A large number of training establishments can be grouped together or done away with; example, the Infantry regiments with each having its own training centre for recruits, these may be redundant in an All-India All-Class Army. 

- The new recruits can start with the NPS like the other forces, if pension is such an issue. The other terms and conditions of service like increasing pensionable service also can be thought of. 

- An innovative proposal is that we recruit only in the fighting arms and combat support arms; after they complete 15 years, they can move to logistics and administrative jobs serving till 58 years like the officers. This itself will make a huge difference to the pension bill.

In the best interest of the nation and the armed forces, this scheme can be frozen for few months and can be deliberated by not only a parliamentary committee but also by a group of veterans suitably selected including few JCOS and NCOs. The few thousand young boys who were already in the process of recruitment can be made to join based on previous terms and conditions.

Maj Gen (Dr.) Yash Mor (Retd.) is a motivation and leadership coach, educator and mentor to lakhs of young students.

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author.