The ambitious Agnipath programme may see some revisions as the armed forces consider measures to avoid future issues. Among the various issues is a decrease in the number of soldiers due to the limited number of recruitments projected until 2026.
Agnipath Scheme to Undergo Massive Change
According to the sources, the proposal under consideration includes increasing the percentage of Agniveers permanently absorbed to 50%. Another issue being investigated is the recruitment of qualified candidates for technical fields such as aviation, engineering, electronics, and similar vocations. “The reduction in the maximum recruitment age to 21 years creates a smaller pool of qualified candidates.” As a result, the suggestion is to expand this to 23 years in order to “get the youth passing out of polytechnic institutions.
The eligibility age is from 17.5 to 21 years, and enrollment is done in a variety of categories and trades, including technical ones. The proposal also includes a figure for increasing recruitment numbers. Otherwise, it will result in a shortage of soldiers, which will take years to rectify. Around 1.75 lakh Agniveers are scheduled to be hired between 2022 and 2026. The idea’s goal is to “make up for the decline in a planned manner.” Otherwise, it could lead to worse problems, both functional and operational,” sources said.
According to Lieutenant General Anil Puri, the then-additional secretary of the Ministry of Defence’s Department of Military Affairs (DMA), the intake of Agniveers will increase to 1.25 lakh in the near future and will not continue at the current figure of 46,000. “Over the next four to five years, our intake (of soldiers) will be 50,000-60,000, with a subsequent increase to 90,000-1 lakh.” Puri stated in June 2022, “We’ve started small at 46,000 to analyse the scheme… and to build up infrastructure capacity.” DMA is in charge of training and staffing.
The administration notified Parliament in December 2021 that the Army had a shortage of 1,04,053 troops, the Navy had a lack of 12,431 employees, and the Air Force had a shortage of 5,471 personnel. A candidate is selected and trained in about 1.5 years.
The solution to the manpower deficit requires attention as tensions linger along the Line of Actual Control with heightened deployment throughout the region. The Ministry of Defence has the authority to adjust or even change the provisions of the new recruiting plan Agniveer, which will be proven unsuitable over time, according to the source. According to the source, the MoD will not be compelled to wait for Cabinet clearance, which is usually required.
To crack the SSB Interview, You can join our SSB interview live classes batch and we recommend you to Enroll SSB INTERVIEW ONLINE COURSE. Trusted by thousands of defence aspirants.
📌 Under agnipath scheme , The official age for the soldier GD should also be increased to 22 or 23 Because of the fact that due to COVID 19 there was no recruitment for a period of 2 years and this is the reason why people who were training day and night to join the Army waiting for the recruitment process , was not able to join the agnipath scheme because of the decrease in age criteria.
A humble request, it would be a great help and opportunity for many people to live their dream wearing the uniform if Defence Minister could change the age criteria For soldier GD too 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿