I don’t know if I was the first one to react. But soon after the ‘Agnipath’ scheme was announced by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on June 14, 2022, I tweeted: ‘It is shocking the ‘Agnipath’ scheme has been launched despite strong reservations by the military veterans and defence experts. Obviously, the Modi govt. has some hidden agenda that will play havoc with the elan, regimental pride and secular ethos of the Army.’

A few days later a poster with the caption “Life of Agniveer after 4 years of contract” went viral on the social media. It depicted ex-Agniveers doing physical training wearing khaki shorts of the RSS that was enough to draw the ire of not only military veterans, but also historians and many sections of the intelligentsia. I tweeted again: ‘This is one of the primary reasons for the stiff resistance to the ill-conceived ‘Agnipath’ scheme. Will the Modi govt. give the assurance that the discharged Agniveers will not be taken in RSS or any of its affiliates? Scrap the scheme and offer a secure future.’ Former finance and Home Minister P. Chidambaram wrote, ‘The ill-conceived ‘Agnipath’ scheme must be rolled back and the government must go back to the drawing board. His views found an echo in the voice of Col. Uday Bhaskar, well-known strategist and columnist who wrote that the ‘institutional rectitude and much-cherished apolitical DNA of India fauj may be adversely impacted.’ Since only 25% of Agniveers will be absorbed in the regular Army, Navy and Air Force, what will be the fate of the remaining 75%? Many veterans fear that discharged Agniveers with army training might fill the ranks of private militias. Some may even fall in the trap of terrorist organizations and foreign intelligence agencies. They may join criminal gangs, insurgency movements and other anti-national platforms. Many may land up as security guards in private companies, worse, in the office of political parties. That seems to be the intention of atleast the ruling party in the Centre.

According to Lt. General Vijay Oberoi, a former Vice Chief of the Army: “It is now fairly clear that it was a plan to bolster electoral prospects with all trappings of fancy names and slogans.” Another senior military veteran wrote: ‘Any doubt that ‘Agnipath’ is not a political movement should be viewed in the context of the offices set up by the BJP, to sponsor youth for ‘Agnipath’. Union Minister for Culture Kishan Reddy stated that the military would be training Agniveers to be good drivers, cooks and barbers. A BJP general secretary declared that his party would give preference to Agniveers for the job of security personnel at BJP offices.

Considering that BJP has now offices in every district (the plan to do so was hastily conceived and executed on the eve of demonetization to utilize ill-gotten old currency), atleast a thousand Agniveers may be comfortably absorbed by the ruling party. Many more will be accommodated as security guards in industrial establishments as announced by Anand Mahindra, a tycoon close to the establishment. But the Mahindra group, only a few years ago had refused to entertain the application of a Navy sailor who tweeted: “I am still unemployed after 15 years of service. I saved 185 lives in Taj Mumbai including that of Gautam Adani (in 2008) during 26/11. What job are you going to provide me...”

Two reasons are being cited for the reduction. One is that salaries and pensions have become a huge and rising percentage of Defence budgets. ‘In the February 2022 Budget, the allocation for defence was Rs. 5.25 lakh crore, of which Rs. 1.2 lakh crore was pensions; in contrast, the corresponding figures for 2012-2013 were Rs. 2.38 lakh crore and Rs. 39,000 crores.’ This shows that, like most of its policy decisions, the government lacked the vision to foresee the economic consequences of the OROP which in any case has not been fulfilled.

The country is now paying a heavy price for all RSS-dictated policies and avoidable expenditure on projects such as statues, new Parliament building, Central Vista and PMs Memorial etc. The ‘Agnipath’ scheme is nothing but a giant leap towards ‘Saffronization’. It is a path to self-destruction. The Modi government must realize that Agniveers who leave the Armed Forces after 4 years of non-pensionable service will become national liabilities and not assets as is being claimed. It must therefore withdraw the ill-conceived scheme lock, stock and barrel.

The writer is former Secretary, AICC