Amidst the ongoing outrage over Aginpath scheme, the Ministry of Defense on Sunday said that this reform was long pending. A defence tri-service briefing was held today which was chaired by Additional Secy Lt Gen Anil Puri, Dept of Military Affairs.
During the briefing, Anil Puri said, "We want to bring youthfulness and experience with this reform. Today, a large number of jawan are in their 30s and officers are getting command much later than in the past."
"Around 17,600 people are taking premature retirement from the three Services every year," Puri revealed adding no one ever tried to ask them what they will do after retirement.
He further explained that in the next 4-5 years, the intake of soldiers will be 50,000-60,000 and it will increase to 90,000 - 1 lakh subsequently.
"We've started small at 46,000 to analyse the scheme and to build up infrastructure capacity," he added.
"Our intake of 'Agniveers' will go up to 1.25 lakhs in near future and will not remain at 46,000 which is the present figure," he added.
"No one ever tried to ask them what they will do after retirement," Puri stated.
He further asserted that Agniveers would get the same allowance in areas like Siachen and other areas which are applicable to the regular soldiers serving at present.
"No discrimination against them in service conditions," he added.
The Union Cabinet on June 14 approved a recruitment scheme for Indian youth to serve in the three services of the Armed Forces called Agnipath and the youth selected under this scheme will be known as Agniveers.
Under the scheme, people between the age of 17.5 years and 21 years will be inducted into the services for a four-year tenure. During this period, they will be paid a monthly salary between Rs 30,000-40,000 plus allowances, followed by compulsory retirement for most without gratuity and pension benefits.
Following the announcement of the scheme, agitations broke out and a tense situation prevailed in various states. The protests took place in several states including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Jharkhand and Assam so far.
In a few states, the protests turned violent, which included setting trains on fire and stone-pelting incidents, and arrests were made. In Uttar Pradesh at least 250 people have been arrested and six FIRs were lodged till Friday. One died in Telangana's Secunderabad district.
Protesters expressed concerns about their future after four-year of contractual employment in the Indian Army, hence, demanding immediate rollback of the scheme.
