'Agnipath rolled out after wide ranged consultations': Rajnath defends scheme, meets top military brass amid stir

As protests against the 'Agnipath' scheme intensified , Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday strongly defended the new military recruitment model saying it was rolled out after wide-ranging consultations including with the ex-servicemen and suggested that a “misunderstanding” is being spread for political reasons. Singh on Saturday held a meeting with the top brass of the Army, Navy and the Air Force on the overall situation arising out of the rollout of the ‘Agnipath’ military recruitment scheme as protests against it intensified in several parts of the country. The meeting was attended by Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar and Vice Chief of Army Staff Gen B S Raju. Singh said the scheme will bring revolutionary changes in the enrolment process for soldiers, asserting that there will be no compromise on the quality of training to be imparted to the personnel to be recruited under the scheme. “It is bringing revolutionary changes in the recruitment process in the armed forces. Some people are spreading misunderstanding about it. Maybe, there could be some confusion among the people as it is a new scheme,” Singh said speaking at a conclave organised by the TV9 media group. The defence minister said the scheme was rolled out after around two years of deliberations including with the ex-servicemen community and a decision was taken based on a consensus. “We wanted that there is a sense of discipline and pride for the country among the people,” he said. The Army, Navy and the Air Force on Friday announced to start the enrolment process under the new model by next week. Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari told PTI that the selection process by the Indian Air Force for recruitment under the new scheme will start from 24 June while the Army said it will begin the initial exercise within two days. While the Indian Navy said it will start the recruitment process ‘‘very soon’’, a senior naval commander said the notification for the recruitment would be out within a week. The three services are planning to deploy the first batches of recruits under the new scheme both in operational and non-operational roles by June next year, senior military officials said. Without taking the name of any political party, the defence minister suggested that some of the protests against the ‘Agnipath’ scheme could be based on political considerations. “There are so many issues to show any political party in poor light. But whatever politics we do, whether remaining in the opposition or in the government, it is for the country,” he said. The defence minister further added, “Should we lower the morale of the soldiers of the country? This is not justice.” This comes after the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA ) announced it would reserve 10 per cent of vacancies for recruitment in the Central Armed Police Forces and Assam Rifles for Agniveers on Saturday. The Ministry also announced a 3-year age relaxation above the upper age limit for the recruitment of ‘Agniveers’ in the two forces. The first batch of ‘Agniveers’ will get an age relaxation of five years beyond the upper age limit, the ministry tweeted on Saturday. **** **Also read: GhoseSpot | The game of protests: Time for Narendra Modi and his core team to do some serious ‘chintan’** **Agnipath scheme: A path-breaking, futuristic initiative that should be welcomed** **Agnipath scheme: Checkmate the false narrative as it’s a game-changer for India and the defence forces** **Agnipath scheme has its reasons, but government should have initiated it as a pilot project** **How's the josh? Why Centre's new Agnipath recruitment programme for soldiers is considered revolutionary** **Education ministry to recognise in-service training received by 'Agniveers' as credits for graduation** **** In an attempt to pacify the protesters, the government on Thursday night increased the upper age limit for recruitment under the ‘Agnipath’ scheme to 23 years from 21 for the year 2022. Unveiling the scheme on Tuesday, the government said youths between the ages of 17 and-a-half and 21 years would be inducted for a four-year tenure while 25 per cent of them will be subsequently inducted for regular service. The youths to be recruited under the new scheme would be called ‘Agniveer’. A major objective of the scheme is to bring down the average age of military personnel and cut ballooning salary and pension bills. The monthly salary of an ‘Agniveer’ in the first year of employment would be Rs 30,000 and the in-hand amount would be Rs 21,000 as Rs 9,000 would go to a corpus with an equal contribution from the government. Subsequently, the monthly salary in the second, third and fourth year will be Rs 33,000, Rs 36,500 and Rs 40,000. Each ‘Agniveer’ will get an amount of Rs 11.71 lakh as ‘Seva Nidhi Package’ and it will be exempted from income tax. The four-year tenure under the new scheme will include around two-and-half months to six months of training periods. The announcement of the new scheme came in the backdrop of recruitments into the military remaining stalled over the coronavirus pandemic for over two years. The Army annually recruit 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers annually. However, the recruitment could not take place for the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With inputs from PTI Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.