Amid claims and counter-claims regarding the contentious Agnipath policy for recruitment to the Indian armed forces, a top officer of the Indian Army said on Sunday that as many as one lakh Agniveers have joined the force till now, of whom 70% are serving in various units.
“In June 2022, the scheme was launched and then we had the first batch that was recruited and enrolled, in December 2022-January 2023. Approximately, one lakh Agniveers have been enrolled in the army, of whom around 200 are women. Of them, approximately 70,000 recruits have already been dispatched to their units and are performing extremely well in the battalions. This includes around 100 female police personnel too,” Lieutenant General Channira Bansi Ponnappa, the army’s Adjutant General, told news agency ANI.
Lieutenant General Ponnappa also shared that 50,000 vacancies have been released for the current 2024-25 cycle, adding that the recruitment process for the year is ongoing.
Further, the senior officer dismissed the oft-repeated charge by opposition parties that with Agnipath, the central government has created ‘two different classes’ of soldiers.
“They (Agniveers) are undertaking all the actions – operational and other professional duties – just like other sepoys or sepoy recruits on the ground. They are completely integrated and assimilated into the units. They wear the same uniform and perform the same duty,” the Lieutenant General stated.
Under the short-service Agnipath scheme, aspirants are inducted into the armed forces for four years, and they are called ‘Agniveers.’ Both male and female aspirants (17.5 to 21 years age group) are eligible to apply, and, after four years, not more than 25% strength of a ‘retiring’ batch, will be selected for the permanent cadre. Quotas have been announced for the ‘retirees’ in various central and state government services, including the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs).
In the recently-held general elections, the ruling BJP performed poorly in some northern states, many of which see a large number of youths join the armed forces, particularly the army. Agnipath is believed to be among the reasons behind the party’s poor show; a BJP ally has already called for a review of the scheme.
(With ANI inputs)
