Agnipath recruitment: Centre defends scheme as protests break out in states

Trains set on fire in Bihar; Opposition parties want the scheme withdrawn

As parts of India on Thursday reported violent protests against the proposed Agnipath recruitment system for the armed forces, political parties and former soldiers pleaded with the government to revise the scheme. Among them were ruling party MP from Pilibhit, Varun Gandhi, and supporter of government and its alliance partner, former Punjab chief minister Amrinder Singh.

As violent protests raged in multiple states, the government issued a clarification, asserting that the new model will not only bring in fresh capabilities to the armed forces but also open up avenues for youth in the private sector and help them become entrepreneurs with the aid of the severence package they will be entitled to on retirement.

In Opposition-ruled states like Rajasthan and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP-) governed Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Haryana, the anger of unorganized groups of young people was evident. Trains were set on fire in several places in Bihar, where the BJP is part of the governing alliance, youngsters came out on railway tracks, and small knots of boys protested in Gaggal, Himachal Pradesh, during a visit of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the state. Himachal Pradesh, a major catchment area for recruitment, is due for Assembly elections later this year. In Haryana, the government suspended internet services for a day to prevent the rage from spreading. Despite that, Rewari and adjoining areas saw protests.

Almost all opposition political groups asked the government to review the procedure. While Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati asked the government to take back the recruitment system, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said the scheme is “controversial, carries multiple risks, subverts the long-standing traditions and ethos of the armed forces.” He said the scheme appears to make a mockery of training and will induct ill-trained and ill-motivated soldiers into the forces. “We fear that the scheme may turn out to be a case of penny wise and security foolish,” he said. Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejaswi Yadav said: “How will the country be safe if its brave soldiers are insecure of the government and its policies?” Rahul Gandhi, too, said the scheme should be taken back.

The anger of prospective soldiers was on many counts: one set said they had taken the written examination which they had cleared but had been unable to clear the physical exam because the government had suspended recruitment rallies. Another said they had crossed the age of recruitment because the government had suspended rallies. All of them said they felt cheated that they would henceforth be able to join the forces for just four years. Their frustration and anger boiled over into the open and took the form of violence – destruction of government property, attacks on ruling party MLAs (a Bihar woman MLA was attacked in her car and narrowly missed injury). The crux of the anger seems to be that the government is taking away employment, not creating it. In the Uttar Pradesh elections earlier this year, ‘bharti’ (recruitment) was a big issue. 

Popular demand in many areas was that after delaying recruitment by two years due Covid-19 (as recruitment involves large rallies that could have become super-spreader events), the government should now raise the recruitment age. It was widely expected that the government would, at the least, double recrui­tments to make up for the two lost years.

Instead boys preparing for the  exams by training—viral videos show them jogging and they work to earn a living with the aim of joining the armed forces — feel cheated that they will not get the opportunity to be called a ‘soldier’.

Several in the government defended the scheme. Tarkishore Prasad, Bihar’s BJP deputy chief minister, said: “I don't think our youth understood the scheme properly or are confused." He also said both the state and the Centre are serious about their induction into the scheme. 

The Ministry of Defence sought to clear up ‘myths’ about the scheme by clarifying the doubts of the veterans that caste-based regiments that pride themselves for their martial traditions like the Gorkha, Jat, Sikh, Rajput, and Madras regiments would cease to exist as the Army would transition into an all-class one; and explaining that four years was enough to provide adequate levels of training to turn boys into soldiers.

However, this still does not address serious doubt, discontent and disappointment, even among serving soldiers, who did not mince words about the policy. Requesting anonymity, they said incentive to serve on the border, risking life and limb would be much lower if the soldier knew he would be out in four years. 

They were also openly skeptical of the adequacy of the training these soldiers would get.

There is hardly any doubt that passions cannot be sustained at boiling point for an indefinite period of time. But equally, there is no doubt that the government did not expect this order of protest. There is nothing to indicate the scheme is going to be reviewed, let alone dropped. But at least in the Himachal Pradesh election, the BJP might have to pay a price.