it is a matter of great concern. But the government has announced a scheme called Agni Pat to recruit 46,000 soldiers to the three defence forces. The Agni pat scheme is controversial, carries multiple risks, subvert the long standing traditions and it cause of the armed forces. And there is no guarantee that the soldiers recruited under the scheme will be better trained and motivated to defend the country. We have read and heard the views expressed by retired defence officers almost unanimously. They have opposed the scheme and we believe that many serving officers share the same reservations about the scheme. Our first concern is that the Agni Pot soldier will be trained for six months and will serve for another 42 months when 75% of the recruits will be discharged. It appears to us the scheme makes a mockery of training inducts into the defence forces and ill trained and ill motivated soldier and discharges disappointed and unhappy ex soldier into the society. The age of recruitment 17 to 21 years raises numerous questions. A large part of our youth will be totally excluded from serving and the defence forces, the stated objective of savings on the pension bill is a weak argument and has not been established beyond doubt. On the other hand, the short period of training six months and the unusually short period of service 42 months may have negative consequences on quality, efficiency and effectiveness. We fear that the scheme may turn out to be a case of Pennywise and security foolish. Several distinguished defence officers have pointed out that a fighting soldier must take pride in his unit, must be willing to lay down his life for his country and comrades must not be risk of us and must be capable of exhibiting leadership. They fear that each one of these objectives will be in jeopardy under the scheme. The announcements by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Education on post discharge opportunities appear to be afterthoughts. They sure that the scheme was poorly conceived and hastily drawn up. A major change in the mode of recruitment should have been examined thoroughly and a pilot scheme should have been tried and tested. Nothing of that sort has been done. Several experts have suggested alternative models to address the issues of inadequate recruitment to the defence forces. There is no indication that the alternatives were examined. Given the situation on our borders, it is imperative that we have soldiers and our defence forces who are young, well trained, motivated, happy, satisfied and assured of their future. The Agni Pat scheme does not advance any of these objectives. It is our duty to warn the country of the consequences of a hastily drawn up scheme. We would urge the government to keep tarred, nip at scheme and obey in SW hold wide consultations with serving and retired officers and address the issues of quality, efficiency and economy without compromising on any one of the three considerations object.
