Even as widespread protests continue across the country against Agnipath, the new military recruitment scheme, the three service chiefs on Tuesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and briefed him about how they plan to implement the scheme. Army chief General Manoj Pande, Air Chief Marshal V.R. Chaudhari and Navy chief Admiral R. Hari Kumar apprised Modi of the overall induction process.
The scheme seeks to recruit youngsters in the age bracket of 17-and-a-half to 21 years for a four-year period, with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years. For 2022, the upper-age limit has been extended to 23 years.
However, ever since the government made the announcement on June 14, violent protests erupted across the country with trains set ablaze and police vehicles and government properties damaged.
The meetings between the prime minister and the service chiefs took place hours after the three services said the Agnipath scheme will not entail any change in the existing system of recruitment for soldiers and that it will not at all impact their operational readiness.
"There will be no change in the recruitment process. What happened five years ago, what happened earlier, the same will continue," said Lieutenant General Anil Puri, the Additional Secretary in the defence ministry's Department of Military Affairs.
Meanwhile, the DMA on Tuesday made it clear that the Agniveers would be eligible for gallantry awards. "Agniveers will be eligible for gallantry awards. Patriotism or working in the army is a passion... it is not a provision for a job," Puri said.
Puri claimed that the department undergoes 80 to 100 bilateral exercises with many countries and from such engagements, it got the idea that the average age of soldiers is 26-27 years.
With PTI inputs
