Agniveers good for sentry duty only, bring handicap to combat units: Former Navy chiefs

The scheme is 'detrimental to the combat effectiveness' of the military and the Agniveers are fit for only 'sentry duties', said Admiral Arun Prakash, former Chief of the Naval Staff.

New Delhi: Amidst a political demand on reviewing the controversial Agnipath scheme for short term recruitment of troops for the army, air force and navy, two former Indian Navy chiefs said such soldiers, known as Agniveers, are “detrimental to the combat effectiveness” of the military and are fit for only “sentry duties” as they are barely trained.

“Agniveers bring operational handicaps to combat units. There is a difference in motivation level, conduct and behaviour between an Agniveer and a regular soldier. The brunt will be faced by the commanding officers as there is bound to be a friction and loss of combat efficiency,” said Admiral Arun Prakash, former Chief of the Naval Staff.

Admiral Karambir Singh, another former Navy Chief noted, “The only motivation driving the Agnipath is reducing the pension bill. The fact that this scheme will degrade combat effectiveness is known to all who understand national security.”

The sharp criticism of the Narendra Modi government’s favoured scheme comes in the backdrop of demands from some of the BJP allies to review the contentious programme following which 75 per cent of the Agniveers retire at the end of four years of service without any pension benefits while the rest are recruited as regular soldiers.

In an interview to journalist Karan Thapar for The Wire, Admiral Prakash pointed out that Agniveers might be useful for infantry-heavy Indian Army, but they were of little use to the Indian Navy or the Indian Air Force that uses technology extensively.

Currently a sailor or air man undergoes five-six years of training before the person becomes competent to handle the weapons, sensors and other equipment.

Former Chief of the Army Staff Gen M M Naravane in his yet-to-be-published book wrote that as per the initial proposal, it was a scheme meant only for the Indian Army and 75 per cent of the Agniveers was planned to be inducted as regular troops.

But the scheme was overhauled by the Prime Minister’s Office and it was left to Chief of the Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat to bring all the three services on-board. “It came as a bolt from the blue for the Indian Navy and IAF,” Gen Naravane wrote.

The book, which was to be published by April, has not come out so far with the Centre deciding to review its content after some of his revelations – accessed exclusively by the news agency PTI – stirred a controversy.

Admiral Prakash said the Agnipath scheme should have been brought in on a trial basis and not enforced on all three services at one go.

On introducing the scheme just after the Covid-19 pandemic, Admiral Prakash said it was not “the best time to cast the armed forces – already short of manpower – into turmoil with a radical and untried new recruitment system”.

“Armed forces and the military are not a laboratory for social engineering and reforms. Anything you change in the military should be seen against only one yardstick – combat effectiveness. Fiddling with an existing system without measuring the impact on combat effectiveness is a hasty step. It should have been thought through,” he said.

The Union government on its part resolutely defended the scheme with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh informing the Lok Sabha that the scheme was rolled out after consultation with 158 organisations.

“The scheme was brought in after a lot of thought,” Singh said.