A war of words has erupted between the Congress leader Manish Tewari and Jairam Ramesh over the Agnipath recruitment scheme.
While Tewari said that the reform was in the larger national interest, Ramesh called it “anti-national security and anti-youth”.
Tewari in an op-ed had defended the scheme. Responding to his article, Ramesh said, “Manish Tewari has written an article on Agnipath. While Congress is the only democratic party, it must be said his views are entirely his own and not of the party, which firmly believes Agnipath is anti-national security and anti-youth, bulldozed through without discussion.”
To this, Tewari said that the tagline of the article does say – the views are personal.
“I wish Jairam Ramesh would have read it right till the very end. He may see it here now,” he added.
Speaking to IANS, Tewari had said that the process of Defence reforms, including right-sizing the military started in the US way back in 1975 when Donald Rumsfield was the Defence Secretary in the Ford Administration and every successive administration has seen it through.
The defence reform is a part of a larger strategic horizon and not merely an act of internal reorganisation, the MP added.
Tewari in his book ‘10 Flashpoints 20 Years’ has mentioned why the country urgently needs defence reforms.
The reforms now being implemented by the government were recommended by the Kargil review committee (KRC) in 1999 and the Group of Ministers constituted to vet the recommendations too had supported the reforms, including right-sizing the armed Forces, he added.
Last week Tewari had said that India needs a younger armed force with lighter human footprint savvy in technology and equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry.
Armed forces of Union shouldn’t be an employment guarantee programme, he added.
