Forces seek to raise Agnipath age limit, increase retention

The armed forces are expected to suggest to the government that the age ceiling for Agnipath inductees be raised to 23 and that at least 50% be retained after four years, senior military officials aware of the matter said on Friday.

The officials, who asked not to be named, attributed the suggested changes in the controversial scheme for recruiting soldiers that was introduced two years ago to a desire to boost “combat effectiveness”. The scheme has come under fire from aspirants across the country, especially the northern states, and is believed to have lost the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) some votes across the region in the summer’s national election.

The proposed overhaul of Agnipath, which will have to be approved by the government, is being sought at a time when the scheme has ignited a firestorm of controversy and deepened the political divide over its impact on national security.

The first modification of the scheme that the armed forces are planning to propose to the government is to raise the upper age limit from 21 to 23 to induct graduates who can be groomed for technical jobs in the three services, said one of the officials cited above.

The second one is for the retention of at least 50% Agniveers in service, as against the current 25%, to hedge against a manpower crunch in specialised areas, said a second official.

“These changes are essential to bolster combat effectiveness,” said the first official. “The three services used to induct graduates in big numbers under the legacy recruitment system. There is a need to raise the age limit by two years to allow graduates to apply.”

Only young men and women aged between 17 and a half and 21 are eligible under the scheme that seeks to recruit soldiers for only four years, with a provision of retaining 25% of them in regular service for another 15 years.

Under the legacy system, applicants aged between 17 and a half and 23 could apply for technical positions even though the upper age limit was 21 for general duty.

Soldiers recruited under the legacy recruitment system serve for about 20 years before they retire in their late 30s with pension and other benefits, which Agniveers released from service after four years are not entitled to.

The low retention rate can lead to a manpower crunch in critical streams, said a third official.

“If X number of Agniveers are assigned to a particular technical stream and none of them are among the 25% soldiers retained in service, it will lead to a huge void in those areas. The retention rate needs to be raised to avoid this. The scheme must address issues related to better management of trained manpower,” he said.

The row swirling around the scheme deepened on Thursday after former navy chief Admiral KB Singh criticised the recruitment model saying it will “degrade the combat effectiveness” of the military.

“The only motivation driving the Agnipath is reducing the pension bill. The fact that this scheme will degrade combat effectiveness is known to all who understand national security,” he wrote on X, in response to a post on the subject by another former navy chief, Admiral Arun Prakash.

Singh’s comments are significant because he was among the key figures involved in discussions on the Agnipath proposal and retired from the top job in November 2021, months before the government announced the scheme in June 2022.

Earlier this week, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi released a video of the father of an Agniveer, saying that the family had not received any compensation from the Centre after his son was killed in a landmine explosion in Naushera in Jammu & Kashmir in January.

The army, however, rebutted this, saying a chunk of the compensation was paid to the next of kin of Agniveer Ajay Kumar and the rest would be disbursed shortly.

The scheme was also at the centre of an intense debate in Parliament recently, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior ministers accusing the Congress of spreading lies about the recruitment model. Earlier this week, Gandhi attacked the government in Lok Sabha over the scheme, claiming that the Agniveers recruited under it were not granted the status of martyrs and were akin to “use and throw” labour.

To be sure, there is no official “martyr” status that is granted to any soldier.

In a discussion in Lok Sabha on July 2, Modi touched upon the scheme which he described as one of the key reforms in the defence sector.

“Our armed forces should be young. They are there to defeat the enemy. We must trust our youth…The armed forces have suffered because of reforms not being initiated in time. The country’s security is a serious matter,” he said.

At the time of its announcement, the government said the scheme would lower the age profile of the armed forces, ensure a fitter military and create a technically skilled warfighting force capable of meeting future challenges. Then too, Agnipath sparked widespread protests and forced a concerted outreach by the government to scotch apprehensions about it.