First batch of Agniveers complete training as Navy divers

As a political firestorm rages over the controversial Agnipath recruitment model that cuts tenure and offers fewer service benefits, India’s first Agniveers have completed a rigourous eight-month training course and passed out from the navy’s elite diving school INS Venduruthy in Kochi as qualified clearance divers, officials aware of the matter said on Tuesday.

These specialist divers can locate and carry out explosive ordnance disposal underwater.

“The batch that passed out from the diving school includes regular navy personnel and 10 Agniveers,” said one of the officials cited above. The navy began inducting Agniveers, the name given to those recruited under the Agnipath scheme, in March 2023.

Only 30% to 40% of personnel who volunteer for the course pass out as clearance divers, said a second official.

The scheme, which the Opposition Congress has repeatedly called for scrapping, has come under fire from aspirants across the country, especially the northern states, and is believed to have lost the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a chunk of votes across the region in the recently concluded national elections.

Speaking in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Union health minister and leader of the House JP Nadda accused the Congress of playing politics with the Agnipath scheme.

“There should be no politics when it comes to national security. We should keep the army out of politics. The scheme was introduced after 400-500 rounds of meetings and consultations to strengthen the army and make it one of the best in the world,” Nadda said, taking part in a discussion on the Union Budget 2024-25.

Last week speaking in Dras in Ladakh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi brushed aside criticism of the Agnipath scheme, saying its goal was to keep the forces young and battle-ready. His comments came during a function to mark the landmark 25th anniversary of victory over Pakistan in the Kargil war.

Most of his speech at the Kargil war memorial in Dras was devoted to the Agnipath scheme.

“The truth is that the Agnipath scheme will increase the strength of the country,” he said, defending the scheme in the presence of the chief of defence staff and the three service chiefs. “Discussions on reducing the age profile of the armed forces had been going on for decades, but there was no political will to make this happen. The average age of Indian soldiers was way more than the global average and that was worrisome.”

Agnipath was a major departure from the military’s decades-old recruitment system that was scrapped when the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government announced the new scheme in June 2022. It seeks to recruit soldiers for only four years, with a provision to retain 25% of them in regular service.

The Opposition then attacked Modi for “politicising” a national event.

“It is very unfortunate and deplorable that Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji is doing petty politics even on occasions like paying tribute to martyrs on Kargil Vijay Diwas. No PM has ever done this before,” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge wrote on X on July 26. “Modi ji is saying that his government implemented the Agnipath scheme at the behest of the army; this is a blatant lie and an unforgivable insult to our valiant armed forces.”

To be sure, soldiers recruited under the legacy system serve for about 20 years before they retire with pension and other benefits, which Agniveers released from service after four years are not entitled to.

Sadly, a sensitive issue linked to national security has been politicised by the very people who were involved in scams running into thousands of crores, Modi said.

His comments came at a time when the armed forces are expected to suggest to the government that the age ceiling for Agnipath inductees be raised to 23 and that at least 50% be retained after four years to boost combat effectiveness, as reported by HT.

The scheme is likely to be a major election issue in the upcoming assembly polls in Haryana.

The first modification of the scheme that the armed forces are planning to propose to the government is to raise the upper age limit from 21 to 23 to induct graduates who can be groomed for technical jobs in the three services. The second one is for the retention of at least 50% Agniveers in service, as against the current 25%, to hedge against a manpower crunch in specialised areas.