Agnipath survey: Key reforms suggested by armed forces amid lens on Agniveer recruitment scheme

The Centre has also tasked a group of secretaries from 10 key ministries to review the Agnipath scheme.

The armed forces have proposed fundamental changes to the Agnipath scheme for recruitment to the armed forces, including increasing the retention rate of Agniveers (recruits) from the current 25 per cent and increasing their training period, the Indian Express has reported.

According to the report, these suggestions were based on an internal survey conducted by the Army in which feedback from the three services was collected. However, Army has not made these recommendations to the Centre yet.

One of the changes to the scheme is increasing the retention percentage from the current 25 per cent to 60-70 per cent for regular troops and nearly 75 per cent for technical and specialist soldiers, including Special Force, as per the report.

Before the Agnipath scheme, the training period for soldiers was between 37 and 42 weeks. It was reduced to 24 weeks for Agniveers.The Army is reportedly discussing that the training duration for Agniveers be increased to what it was originally for soldiers. It has also been recommended that the overall service period be increased to around seven years from the current four years so that the soldiers can be granted gratuity and ex-servicemen (ESM) status, according to the IE report.

The Centre has also tasked a group of secretaries from 10 key ministries to review the Agnipath scheme and suggest ways to make the armed forces recruitment programme more attractive.

Those selected under the scheme are called Agniveers.The Prime Minister's Office will take a final decision on changes in the scheme after getting recommendations and feedback from other stakeholders, including state governments.Other suggestions include lateral absorption of graduates as technical personnel.

“Technology-intensive services need more senior technical personnel and Agnipath, as the only route for admitting them, may fall short of meeting the number of senior technical personnel,” an official told Indian Express, adding that several senior posts for them will otherwise fall vacant by 2035.

The scheme, introduced by the Narendra Modi government in its previous term, involves recruiting youth in the 17.5-21 age bracket as soldiers for four years.Its aim is to modernise the military forces, create a youthful profile and reduce long-term financial burdens associated with pensions and other benefits.

However, the Agnipath scheme has met with significant backlash from certain groups for its short-term recruitment process, which some argue may lead to job insecurity and insufficient training for military personnel.NDA allies like JD(U) and LJP (RV), who are part of the BJP-led government at the Centre, have also called for a review of the scheme.