Changes in 'Agnipath scheme' likely after 4-5 years: Army Vice Chief

New Delhi: India's Vice Chief of the Army Staff hints at possible "tweaks" if required in Agnipath scheme at the end of four or five years.

Lieutenant General B S Raju told The Indian Express on Monday that the recruitment scheme was "well thought out"

The scheme is a "pilot project", which he said marks a "fundamental change" in recruitment for the armed forces and there is "a need" for all to "absorb the change", according to the report.

Young men have been violently protesting the new scheme which they worry will take in fewer candidates, and not assure a regular job, pension and health benefits for those retiring after four years of service.

Many of whom according to the report have been waiting to join the forces since 2020 when the government imposed a freeze on recruitment.

Raju said that if any change required in the methodology of recruitment, percentages of retention-extension would be done at the end of four to five years.

The scheme, he said, was well thought through which the Army is now implementing.

Replying to the question of trying a pilot project before the actual one, he said the one being implemented at the moment is a pilot project although it is not called so.

It is pilot project with clear timelines in place and the government, he added, repeatedly talked about "modifications" based on experience.

There is no plan, Raju said, to do away with homogenous units right away and the changes to regiments would happen in a "very slow manner".

He dismissed the suggestion that the spate of announcements after the policy had been announced for the re-employment of ex-Agniveers — 10 per cent reservation in Central Armed Police Forces; 10 per cent in Coast Guard and Defence PSUs; two years relaxation in the upper age limit; preference for Agniveers ins state police services –indicated that the policy had not been well thought out, the report said.

The lieutenant general said the scheme would be implemented slowly taking in this year only 40,000 Agniveers increasing it to 45,000 in 2024 and 50,000 in 2025.

With Angniveers making up 50 per cent of Army will ensure balance, just as the other 50 percent becoming "permanent force", which would come from the 25 percent hired every four-year batch of Agniveers.

He set aside concerns about rivalry between Agniveers continuing on the job and those leaving after four years.

The concern is misplaced as competition is not new to the system and the retiring ones would get a fair foundation to start new life, according to him.

Meanwhile the Army issued notification for compulsory online registration for aspiring Agniveers.