Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the recently announced Agnipath recruitment scheme. The Congress has been protesting against the scheme and has repeatedly called for a discussion be held in Parliament. The scheme seeks to recruit youths between the age bracket of 17-and-half years to 21 for four years with a provision to retain 25% of them for 15 more years.
“60,000 soldiers retire every year, out of which only 3000 are getting government jobs. What will be the future of thousands of Agniveers retiring on 4-year contracts? With this new experiment of the Prime Minister’s laboratory, both the security of the country and the future of the youth are in danger,” the Congress leader tweeted.
The Opposition party has led several protests since the scheme was announced, and issued calls for discussions to be held during the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament.
‘Agnipath’ is a pan India merit-based recruitment scheme for enrolling soldiers, airmen and sailors. The scheme provides an opportunity for youth to serve in the regular cadre of the armed forces. All those recruited under the ‘Agnipath’ scheme will be called ‘Agniveers’. The initiative has been designed to enable a youthful profile of the Armed Forces.
‘Agniveers’ will be enrolled for a service duration of 4 years including the training period. After four years, only 25% of them will be retained or re-enlisted in the regular cadre based on merit, willingness and medical fitness. The ‘Agniveers’ will be given a good pay package and an exit retirement package after a service of four years.
The other 75% ‘Agniveers’ will be demobilized, with an exit or “Seva Nidhi” package of Rs 11-12 lakh, partly funded by their monthly contributions, as well as skill certificates and bank loans for help in their second careers.
