Tribune Reporters

Jammu/New Delhi, July 26

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday defended the much-debated Agnipath scheme and launched an attack on the Opposition, which, he claimed, was politicising the sensitive scheme that had the potential to keep the armed forces young and battle-ready.

Edit: Warning to pakistan

He was speaking at Dras to mark 25 years of the victory in the Kargil conflict. Modi attended a ceremony at the Kargil war memorial to pay homage to the soldiers who lost their lives in the India-Pakistan conflict in 1999.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an event to commemorate the 25th Vijay Diwas anniversary at the Kargil War Memorial in Dras. PTI

In lauding the Agnipath scheme, Modi has sent a signal to NDA allies JD(U) and the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), which had called for a review of the scheme days ahead of the government formation in the first week of June. The Opposition, including the Congress and the Samajwadi Party, have been critical of the scheme and have sought that it be scrapped. Modi dwelt at length on the Agnipath scheme, under which soldiers are recruited for a defined period, and termed it as a crucial reform. He said there was concern over the average age of the Indian soldier being above the global average.

BJP-ruled states vow quota for Agniveers

  • After Haryana, more BJP-ruled states have vowed quota for Agniveers in police
  • These are UP, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Uttarakhand
  • Agniveers will get weightage in recruitment for UP Police and state armed constabulary, UP CM Yogi Adityanath said
  • MP CM Mohan Yadav too said his government would reserve posts in the state police and paramilitary forces
  • Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi promised 10% quota amp; 5-year age relaxation for Agniveers in uniformed services
  • Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel too said they would give priority to Agniveers in jobs

"In the past, there was no willpower to deal with this critical concern, which is being addressed now through the Agnipath scheme," the PM said, adding that the purpose of the scheme was to keep the forces young and battle-ready.

Pak waging war in garb of terror

Pakistan has not learnt anything from the past and continues to wage a war in the garb of terrorism and proxy wars to stay relevant. —Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

He lamented that there was "blatant politicisation of this sensitive subject. "The truth is that the Agnipath scheme will increase the strength of the country. Announcements have been made to give priority to Agniveers (name of soldiers recruited under the scheme) in the private sector and paramilitary forces as well," Modi said.

Modi refuted claims that the Agnipath scheme was launched to save pension money, saying that the pension burden of soldiers being recruited today would come up years later and, therefore, this could not have been the reason behind the scheme.

"We have respected this decision taken by the armed forces because for us, the security of the country is more important than politics," he said.

"Those misleading the youth of the nation today had no regard for the armed forces in the past. They are the same people who did not build a war memorial for the martyrs even after seven decades of Independence, did not provide enough bulletproof jackets to our soldiers deployed on the border and kept ignoring Kargil Vijay Diwas," the PM said.

In December last year, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, chaired by BJP MP Jual Oram, had called for a review of the scheme and recommended that families of Agniveers, who die in the line of duty, should be provided the same benefits as given to the families of regular soldiers.

The present rules do not have a provision of pension for the families of Agniveers dying in the line of duty. In case a regular soldier dies, his family gets pension for life.