AGNIPATH SCHEME FOR ARMED FORCES

Huge protests have been observed throughout the country to roll back the Agnipath scheme

AGNIPATH SCHEME

• It recruits the soldier for short term and long term on an ‘All-India All-Class’ basis.
• It aims to reduce the salaries and pension and divert resources for the modernization of the military.
• Those between the age of 17.5 and 21 are eligible for this. The person who gets selected will be known as Agniveers.
• The recruitment process will be repeated every six months.
• After 4 years of services, Agniveers will be eligible to apply for permanent enrolment in the armed forces and only 25 percent will be selected based on merit in the permanent commission.
• They will then have to serve for a minimum of 15 years after going to permanent commission

PRESENT RECRUITMENT PROCESS

• Short service commission: Presently officer is inducted under the 10+4 scheme which means the officer serves for 10 years and can either opt to move out or extend the service for another 4 years. Though they can resign any time in these 4 years.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS EXTENDED TO MAGNIFIERS

• Salary: They will receive an annual package of RS 4.6lakh in the first year to Rs 6.92 lakh in the four years.
• ALLOWANCES: With the salary, they will get the travel and uniform allowances.
• SEVA NIDHI: Agniveer have to contribute 30% of their salaries to a fund that will be matched by the government and at the end of the four years, each soldier will get RS 11.71 lakh as a lump sum tax-free amount, which includes interest accumulated on the absolute amount.
• LEAVES: They will be granted 30 days of annual leave while sick leave will be based on medical advice.

WHAT IS THE NEED FOR THIS SCHEME?

• Agnipath's scheme will give a military exposure to a large section of youth, the military way of life and give them wide exposure.
• It will provide the nation with a large pool of disciplined workforce with varied skill sets.
• It will make citizens rule-abiding and raise them above normal regional and sectarian outlook and will enhance their physical fitness level.
• The trained workforce can also act as reservists in times of national emergency.

CRITICISM OF THE SCHEME

• SLASHING THE EXPENDITURE: It is a move to slash the growing salary and pension bills of all three services.
• DILUTING THE PROFESSIONALISM: It has been accused of diluting the professionalism of the armed force.
• REDUCE EFFICIENCY: The process will result in mixed units that will lack cohesion and regimentation, which will reduce their effectiveness.
• SUSPENSION OF RECRUITMENT: Due to covid the recruitment process was suspended for the last two years.

The Situation of Government Jobs

PM has ordered, million central government posts to be filled in a mission mode over the next one and a half years.

The Current Picture of Employment in India

The unemployment rate is defined as the percentage of unemployed persons in the labor force.

• Suffered by demonetization, pandemic, and subsequent lockdowns, now the Indian economy has started showing some signs of revival.
• The annual report of the Periodic Labour Force Survey for July 2020 to June 2021 showed that the unemployment rate decreased to 4.2% from 4.8% in 2019-20.
• The unemployment rate was higher for males than females in rural areas.
• In urban areas, the unemployment rate was higher for females than males, opposite as compared the rural area.
• The Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), or those working or seeking or available for work in the labour force, was the highest in four years around 39.3% in 2020-21.
• The unemployment rate in the country stands at 7.83% in April 2022 according to CMIE (Center for Monitoring Indian Economy).
• India is still far behind the US, China, and others county in public sector employment.

CURRENT STRENGTH OF CENTRAL HUMAN RESOURCES.

• Union Budget 2022-23 estimated the strength of central government employees at 34.65 lakh as of March 1, 2022.
• According to the Annual Report of the Department of Expenditure (2019-20), approx. 21.75% of the sanctioned posts were vacant as of March 1, 2020.
• The Indian Railways is the biggest government employer with around 12.52 lakh employees as of March 1, 2020.
• Almost 92% of the central government’s manpower is employed in Railways (almost 40%), Home Affairs (almost 30%), Defence (Civil) (nearly 12%), Department of Posts (almost 5.50%), Department of Revenue (more than 3%)
• Also, a large number of employees have been hired on contract as per the recommendations, especially of the last two Pay Commissions.

MAJOR RECRUITMENT BODY

• The UPSC and SSC are the two main bodies that recruit for the central government post mainly for the group A and group B
• SSC recruits for all group B (Non-gazette) and group C (Non-technical) posts in the central ministries.

DOES THE GOVERNMENT ONE AND HALF YEAR DEADLINE MAKE SENSE??

• There has been a lack of framework for recruitment in the various ministries and departments (except the Agneepath Scheme).
• The one and half-year deadline raise suspicion about the feasibility of achieving the target.
• The vacancies and the required skill set necessary for the candidate should be clearly defined.
• This will create more burden on the future government expenditure which will again raise the revenue expenditure.

NEED OF THE HOUR

• With the technology offering more solutions, the government should focus on the technological solution which will replace the human in monotonous jobs and lead to a decreased burden in paying more salaries and allowances.