Army's Self-Initiated Assessment of Agniveer Scheme, Potential Recommendations for Modifications

The Army is currently conducting an internal survey to assess the impact of the Agnipath scheme on its recruitment process, as reported by the Indian Express. This evaluation aims to provide recommendations to the incoming government regarding potential changes to the scheme.

Launched in June 2022, the Agnipath initiative recruits Agniveers—soldiers, airmen, and sailors—in the Armed Forces for a four-year period. After completing their tenure, up to 25% of participants can voluntarily apply for regular service based on merit and organizational requirements.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government of turning India’s soldiers into laborers and vowed to abolish the Agniveer scheme upon coming to power on June 4.

Speaking at a public rally in Haryana’s Mahendragarh, Gandhi emphasized that India’s borders are protected by the youth from Haryana and other states.

While addressing the rally in Haryana, Rahul Gandhi stated, “You have patriotism in your heart, blood, and DNA. Narendra Modi ji, for the first time, has turned India’s soldiers into laborers.”

Gandhi further said, “He (PM Modi) says there will be two kinds of soldiers who sacrifice their lives for the country: one, a regular jawan or officer whose family will receive a pension, status, and all other benefits; the other, a poor family’s son named Agniveer, who will not receive the status of ‘shaheed,’ nor any pension or other benefits.

He further declared that after June 4, the INDIA bloc would dismantle the Agniveer scheme and discard it. He continued, “The Army does not want this scheme… this scheme is imposed by the PMO. The INDIA bloc government will come to power and the first thing we shall do is throw this Agniveer scheme in the dustbin.”

The soldiers who sacrificed their lives will be only of one category… the government of India will work for everybody, everybody guarding India’s borders will get the status of ‘shaheed’. We are going to tear this Agniveer scheme into pieces and dump it in the dustbin,” said the Congress MP.

He claimed that the Modi government had forgiven loans totaling Rs 16 lakh crore for his 22 billionaire friends, an amount equivalent to 24 years of farm loans.