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Agnipath is a transformative military recruitment scheme enabling Indian youth (17.5-23 years) to serve in the armed forces for 4 years as Agniveers. 25% are retained for permanent service after 4 years; 75% exit with ₹11.71 lakh Seva Nidhi corpus. Aims to reduce average age of armed forces and cut pension bill.
Target Beneficiaries: Indian youth 17.5-23 years; armed forces (Army, Navy, Air Force); security agencies for post-retirement Agniveers
Implementing Agency: Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Air Force (under the Ministry of Defence)
17600
Funding Ratio (Centre:State): 100% Central Government (Ministry of Defence)
GS Paper: GS3
Syllabus Tags
The 'Tour of Duty' concept was initially proposed to allow short-term military service for civilians. Agnipath is a formalization of this to modernize the force structure post the 1999 Kargil Review Committee recommendations on the age profile.
Financial corpus for Agniveers consisting of their contribution and matching government contribution.
Metric
46000
Source: PIB/Ministry of Defence
The Agnipath scheme represents a radical paradigm shift in the Indian military's HR policy, aimed at lowering the age profile of the armed forces from 32 to 26 years. While it addresses the burgeoning pension bill (Orop burden), which consumes nearly 25% of the defence budget, it faces scrutiny regarding the 'de-professionalization' of the cadre due to short 6-month training periods compared to the previous 1.5-2 years. Critically, the scheme trades off depth of experience for technological agility and fiscal space for modernization. The 'all-India all-class' recruitment model also challenges the traditional 'regimental izzat' system which has historically been the bedrock of unit cohesion.
The Agnipath scheme is a double-edged sword that balances fiscal prudence with human resource reform. Critically examine its impact on India's national security architecture.
Agnipath can be used to discuss: 1. Civil-Military relations and the 'Soldier-Citizen' concept. 2. Rationalization of Government expenditure (Pension vs. Capex). 3. Leveraging the 'demographic dividend' for national security. 4. Skill-mapping and post-retirement rehabilitation of youth in the civilian workforce.