Agnipath: MP, U'khand, Chhattisgarh now promise quotas for Agniveers

Amidst ongoing controversy surrounding the Agnipath scheme, with the INDIA bloc taking it up vociferously in Parliament and criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for creating a class of "use-and-throw labourers", the BJP governments of Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh on Friday announced quotas for Agniveers (recruited via Agnipath) in government jobs, police, and armed forces.

This apparent hyper-activity on the part of the BJP-ruled states could be interpreted as a sign of the government's climbdown on the Agnipath scheme while keeping its honour intact, considering how bitterly the Opposition, most notably the Congress, has been attacking it.

On Friday itself, Congress MP and general-secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh alleged that PM Modi had lied on the occasion of Kargil Vijay Diwas, an annual event to honour Kargil War heroes, by claiming that the Agnipath scheme was started by the Army, whereas then army chief M.M. Naravane has written about how the scheme came as a complete surprise for the Army, as for the Navy and Air Force. Several retired defence personnel have previously backed this claim.

Earlier in the day, Congress leader Karti Chidambaram also attacked Modi for defending the Agnipath scheme. Chidambaram said the Indian Army should not be politicised and the scheme should be scrapped. "Indian Army has a glorious past and should not be politicised. We salute the Army and not the other way around," he added.

Earlier this week, the BJP government of Haryana, a state headed for Assembly polls, also announced reservations for Agniveers. Once again, the action could have been prompted by the socio-political backlash in a state where a disproportionately high number of youth head for the defence forces.

Addressing a programme in Dehradun to pay tribute to armed forces personnel who fought in extremely harsh conditions to defend the nation's territory during the Kargil War in 1999, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami said legislation would be brought in to extend the reservation.

"We will make provisions and bring an Act to give reservation to them in government services. We are working on this plan. We will make use of their skills and discipline in various government departments," he said.

The chief minister also announced that the aid extended to the kin of martyrs would be increased from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh. "No sacrifice can be bigger than the act of laying down one's life to secure the country's borders. No grant or honour can be enough for this supreme sacrifice," he added.

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav also announced reservations for Agniveers in the police and armed forces. "As per the wishes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the MP government has decided to give reservation to Agniveers in police and armed forces. The Agniveer scheme is in the real sense an attempt to not only modernise the armed forces and to recruit capable jawans but also to make it young at the global level," Yadav said. "We will walk in tandem with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s feelings on the issue."

A senior officer of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP) said Agniveers will prove "very useful" for ITBP, which guards the Line of Actual Control between India and China.

Former defence personnel have earlier gone on record stating that half-trained Agniveers can be of limited use to the forces. In a piece for National Herald, Maj. Gen. Yash Mor (retd) wrote, "The scheme not only destroyed the hopes and aspirations of lakhs of young boys from rural India, it also negatively impacted the army and its units. It takes about seven-eight years to train a soldier capable of handling a tank, BMP (an infantry fighting vehicle), air defence and artillery weapon systems.

"The technical training so crucial for retaining the cutting edge has been ignored by Agnipath. The drastically reduced training period has meant sending half-trained ‘Agniveers’ to the units and the border. Already, several have been killed or have tragically taken their own lives."

However, all preparations have been made for the recruitment of these "well-trained and disciplined" soldiers, who will join the border force from the Army, ITBP director-general Rahul Rasgotra said in a video message posted by the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) on its X handle.

On the other hand, Chhattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai said the state government would provide reservations for Agniveers in recruitments for police constables and forest guards, among other posts.

Speaking to reporters on the state Assembly premises, Sai said Agniveers from Chhattisgarh would be given priority while recruiting police constables and forest and jail guards once they completed their service in the Indian Army. The state government will soon issue necessary guidelines to provide a fixed reservation to Agniveers, he said.

Several Opposition parties, including the Congress, have been targeting the government over the scheme, raising questions about what would happen to 75 per cent of Agniveers at the end of their four-year tenure, since only 25 per cent would be retained by the defence services.

With PTI inputs