Explained: The new graduation programme designed for India’s Agniveers

The announcement of the Centre’s radical Agnipath recruitment scheme for soldiers into the Armed Forces — Army, Navy and Air Force — has created a lot of buzz.

While many have lauded the government for its recruitment model in which the youth aged 17-and-a-half years to 21 will be recruited for a period of four years on a contractual basis, there are others who see flaws in this programme.

For many who are against the Agnipath scheme, their main grouse is that only up to 25 per cent of the Agniveers, the soldiers recruited through this model, will be given regular commission after the four-year contract, leaving 75 per cent of those recruited without a job and without proper educational qualifications.

Also read: Agnipath scheme has its reasons, but government should have initiated it as a pilot project

However, the Centre has clarified that will not be the case, as the retiring Agniveers will be given preference in government jobs and will be absorbed into the private sector. Additionally, the government also stated that a special three-year skill based bachelor degree programme has been launched.

Let’s take a closer look at this special three-year programme that will make acquiring a graduate degree easier for Agnipath recruits.

Graduate degree for Agniveers

Mindful of the concerns over the future career prospects of Agniveers, the Ministry of Education (MoE) has decided to launch a special three-year skill-based bachelor degree programme for them.

The degree programme offered by the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) will be recognised both in India and abroad for employment and education.

In order to enhance the future career prospects of our #Agniveers, and equip them for various job roles in the civilian sector, @EduMinOfIndia is to launch a special, three year skill based bachelor degree programme

Read here: https://t.co/vY4wjXqkBC

1/2

— PIB India (@PIB_India) June 15, 2022

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According to a senior MoE official, the degree programme will recognise in-service training received by the Agniveers as credits for graduation. As per the new programme, 50 per cent of the credits will come from skill training — both technical and non-technical received by the Agniveers

The remaining half will have to be earned from a choice of courses, including languages, Economics, History, Political Science, Public Administration, Sociology, Mathematics, Education, Commerce, Tourism, Vocational Studies, Agriculture and even ‘Jyotish’ (astrology), among others.

The government said that the programme is aligned with norms of the University Grants Commission (UGC) and National Education Policy (NEP).

The MoE official was quoted as telling news agency PTI, “It also has provisions for multiple exit points –undergraduate certificate on successful completion of first year courses, undergraduate diploma on successful completion of first and second year courses and degree on completion of all the courses in three-year timeframe.”

“The degree will be awarded by IGNOU as per UGC nomenclature — BA, BCom, BA (Vocational), BA (Tourism Management) — and will be recognised both in India and abroad for employment and education,” he added.

According to the ministry, the framework of the programme has been duly recognised by the concerned regulatory bodies - All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET) and UGC.

Currently soldiers who enrol in the Armed Forces are a minimum of Std XII. Should they want to upgrade their educational qualifications, they are permitted to do so by the norms of the university.

Future employment prospects

The graduation programme is just one of the measures taken by the Centre to ensure that Agniveers have a beneficial future after their four years of service.

Earlier on Wednesday, Home Minister Amit Shah announced that the retiring Agniveers would get first preference for recruitment into the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and Assam Rifles.

Taking to Twitter, Shah said, “Agnipath Yojana is a visionary and welcome decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the bright future of the youth. In this context, today, the ministry of home affairs (MHA) has decided to give priority to Agniveers who complete 4 years under this scheme for recruitment in CAPFs (Central Armed Police Forces) and Assam Rifles.”

‘अग्निपथ योजना’ युवाओं के उज्ज्वल भविष्य के लिए @narendramodi जी का एक दूरदर्शी व स्वागत योग्य निर्णय है।

इसी संदर्भ में आज गृह मंत्रालय ने इस योजना में 4 साल पूरा करने वाले अग्निवीरों को CAPFs और असम राइफल्स में भर्ती में प्राथमिकता देने का निर्णय लिया है।#BharatKeAgniveer

— गृहमंत्री कार्यालय, HMO India (@HMOIndia) June 15, 2022

The CAPF refers to the seven central armed police organisations — the Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) National Security Guard (NSG) and Special Protection Group (SPG).

Following the home ministry’s announcement, other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led states also said that the retiring Agniveers would get first priority in recruitment to police and related services in the states.

Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Uttarakhand all made similar announcements on Wednesday for the future employment prospects for the Agniveers.

माँ भारती की सेवा के उपरांत अग्निवीरों को @UPGovt प्रदेश पुलिस एवं संबंधित अन्य सेवाओं में प्राथमिकता प्रदान करेगी।

युवाओं के उन्नयन एवं उनके सुरक्षित भविष्य के लिए भाजपा की डबल इंजन की सरकार सतत समर्पित व पूर्णतः प्रतिबद्ध है।

जय हिंद!

— Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath) June 15, 2022

Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami also said that the state government would give priority to the recruitment of ‘Agniveers’, who serve the nation under the new Agnipath scheme, in Uttarakhand Police and related services.

It is left to be seen how successful this scheme is, but for now the Armed Forces are all gearing up, with the Forces planning recruitment rallies in the next 90 days.

With inputs from agencies

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