In a bid to quell an aggressive rebellion and also to clear confusion over the newly launched Agnipath “Tour Of Duty” Scheme, the tri-service chiefs held a joint press conference in Delhi, Sunday. Addressing the press briefing were officers from Indian Navy and Air Force. To begin with, Lt General Anil Puri, Additional Secy, Dept of Military Affairs, MoD, stated that they did not anticipate recent violence over the Agnipath scheme.
“We had not anticipated the recent violence over this scheme. There is no place for indiscipline in the Armed Forces. All candidates will have to give a written pledge that they did not indulge in any arson/violence,” he reiterated.
Lt General Anil Puri further clarified that the scheme will not be taken back and stated that Agnipath is the “only progressive step to make the country young. We want a mix of josh and hosh and that is why we wanted to reduce the age profile. The average age is 32 years at present and we want to reduce it as per the recommendations of the Kargil review committee.”
According to the senior officer: “Coming to the rollback of the Scheme, no. Why should it be rolled back? It is the only progressive step to making the country young. Why is it being made young? We are tinkering with ‘Desk ki Raksha (national security). There is no space. I will give you an example. Do you know how many casualties are reported just for health purposes from high-altitude areas? Do read about it, then you would come to know why young is important.”
This classification from the Additional Secretary came after violent protests broke out in some parts of the country, in which stone-pelting and the setting of trains on fire were reported.
Regarding the ongoing violence in wake of the scheme, the officer clarified that the aspirants connected to the violence will have to furnish a written undertaking that “they were not part of protest or vandalism” with 100 per cent police verification. In addition to this, he also said that individuals who have FIR filed against them will not be allowed to join the forces.
He further informed that the Centre will start with recruitment of 46,000 Army aspirants to ‘analyse’ the scheme. “In next 4-5 years, our intake (of soldiers) will be 50,000-60,000 and will increase to 90,000 – 1 lakh subsequently. We’ve started small at 46,000 to analyse the scheme and to build up infra capacity,” stated the General, adding that the intake will eventually go up to 1.25 lakhs in future.
For those Agniveers who become martyrs, a Rs one crore compensation has been set aside.
Also Read: Defence Chiefs Call Agnipath Scheme ‘Transformational’
