Ex-jawans slam Agnipath: Don’t experiment with Army, what if they join gangsters after four years?

The Indian news on Wednesday spoke to a cross-section of ex-servicemen who have served as jawans and found that they disapproved of the plan to hire soldiers for four-year terms and retain only 25 per cent of the intake for full pensionable service.

District president of the Ex-Servicemen Welfare Union in Faridkot, retired havildar Premjit Singh Brar said the Agnipath scheme was akin to raising a “private army” and that the youth would not be interested in four-year stints.

“This is a wrong move. No one will be interested in joining the Army on these terms and conditions. It is like raising a private army. If someone dies on the border, they say they will only give him fixed compensation and that his family will not get any pension or any benefit. Why should anyone be willing to die under these circumstances?” said Brar.

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Brar said his union had already held a meeting to discuss Agnipath and rejected it in totality. “A trained soldier will be let loose in society after four years of service. The society is already plagued by gangsterism. What if these jobless, arms-trained youth join the gangsters? This is a ‘ghatiya scheme’. Who joins the Army as a jawan? A poor person whose family owns only two or two and a half acres of land. If he will be on the roads after four years, why will he join the Army,” he questioned.
Subedar and honorary captain Darshan Singh, a member of the Indian Ex-Services Union in Moga, also feels that the Agnipath scheme is ‘totally wrong’. “I am a sapper (corps of engineers). In four years a new recruit barely learns the tools of his trade. Every day new equipment is being introduced in the Army. This means a soldier will have hardly learnt how to handle the equipment before it will be time for him to leave. The government is not doing the right thing. First stop your own pensions before you stop the pensions of Armymen,” he said.

Darshan was of the view that the youth will be reluctant to join the defence services under Agnipath. “Who will fight at the border if the compensation is not enough? These youngsters will be hired for a pittance in factories when they come out of the Army after four years. Their lives will be destroyed,” he said.

According to Captain Shamsher Singh Malik, president of the Progressive Ex-Servicemen Federation of India–based out of Rohtak, Haryana–Agnipath is a “moorkhtapurn faisla” (a foolish decision) as the scheme has neither been tried and tested nor adequately researched. A former short-service commission officer who had to leave the Army after ten years of service because he was not given a permanent commission, Capt Malik said the scheme was loaded against the youth.

“The future of the youth is being played with. This is a joke being played with the youth. There will not be any proper regimentation in units. I cannot imagine how this decision could have been taken. The only reason was that the government does not want to pay pensions,” he said.

Jitender Bhadawar, a 23-year-old from Barwala, Haryana, has lost his chance to join the Army as he is now overage and no Army recruitment has taken place for the past two years. “They have changed all the rules. The enthusiasm for the Army will not be less. Earlier boys would prepare for five years in advance to join the Army. Why will they now do so for only four years of service? Virodh aur gussa hai (There is opposition and anger to it) and youngsters are sharing messages on social media platforms for a boycott,” he said.

Asked if the lure of uniform would still prove to be strong for the youth, Jitender said some of them might still apply. “Agar kisi ko bhookha rakhoge to woh rookhi sookhi bhi kha lega (If you keep someone hungry, he will eat even frugal offerings),” he said.