In February 2018, I had the opportunity to go to Israel to represent the BJP at the All Party Young Leaders delegation hosted by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of Israel. It was an enthralling and an eye-opening experience both at a personal and professional level.
At that time, I had the privilege to interact with many Israeli youngsters from myriad backgrounds. One was working as a public policy specialist with the government. Another 28-year-old woman was leading a team at a start-up in Tel Aviv. There was another young man who was working as an engineer at Intel.
All of them had one thing in common – they all had served in the Israel Defense Forces as part of their conscription.
When those completing school in many parts of the world are busy making university-related decisions, students in Israel prepare themselves for something else – a service in the military.
For these youth, a short stint at the armed forces becomes an opportunity to develop their personality and acquire skills which they go on to carry with them for the rest of their lives.
Intrigued, I had asked them about their experience in the armed forces, what they do, where do they get posted, what opportunities open up after the conscription period and so on.
Their tales only made me envious.
I was able to realize that the conscription has made Israel become stronger with a young military and a more patriotic population which goes on to shine in whichever field they make their careers contributing to the country’s progress and development.
I had thought to myself – “if only such opportunities were made available for the youth back at home.”
The Youth Conundrum In India
But in India, students finishing school find themselves at crossroads where one way shows ‘medicine’, another way shows ‘engineering’ and another shows ‘commerce/accountancy’.
Most of them end up in the rat-race of either joining a medical or engineering college and others settle for doing a B.Com or a name-sake degree.
College too doesn’t became a space where these youth get to explore and unleash their talents. It becomes another 3-5 years of schooling. Herd-mentality sets in and everybody wants to get a job with a 5-6 figure salary or go abroad and settle down. Nothing wrong in that but it is time that youngsters in India ask themselves in what ways they can help in nation-building.
Be that as it may, there is another serious problem that is starting to rear its ugly-head – ‘wokeness’.
Wokeness is a problem that has started creeping inside young impressionable minds, thanks to social media. Poisoned by leftist media and influencers, many young minds today and are disconnected from their culture and lack a sense of patriotism. Sometimes, they even go the extent of antagonizing their own country for the sake of fame, like we see in cases like Disha Ravi, Safoora Zargar and many more. If this disease of ‘wokeness’ continues to spread, it will have serious implications for the country.
And that is precisely why the Agnipath scheme is the need of the hour which will induct more youth in the armed forces.
Busting The Myths Associated With Agnipath
Through the Agnipath scheme, young Indians in the 17.5 to 21 age group (a relaxation has been provided this year till 23) will be inducted into the army as ‘Agniveers’ and will serve in the armed forces for 4 years paving way for a younger armed forces.
One of the most common myth peddled by the Opposition and other naysayers of the scheme is about the insecure future of the Agniveers. But the truth is far from what they claim.
Upto 25% of Agniveers in a batch stand a chance to be inducted as permanent cadres in the armed forces after completing 4 years.
All Agniveers will be given a financial package of ₹11.71 lakh at the end of four years which will be exempted from income tax.
Those wishing to turn entrepreneurs are eligible to avail a loan and those wishing to study further will be provided with a certificate declaring that they have passed the Class 12 exam and can also take part in a bridging course for further studies.
Agniveers will also be given priority in recruitment of paramilitary forces like CAPF, CISF, etc.
States like Assam, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, etc have already declared that Agniveers will be given preference in police recruitment and other government jobs.
The Finance Minister has also asked banks to explore ways to support Agniveers.
To put it in a nutshell, if a youth enrolls today as an Agniveer, his or her bright future is guaranteed after four years.
Another baseless myth that is being peddled is that inducting youngsters would hamper the effectiveness of our armed forces. In essence, they’re questioning the abilities of our youth and the credibility of our military officers.
The Indian Armed Forces have assured that with the infusion of technology and revamping of the training programmes, the Agniveers woud have all the skill sets required to meet the operational challenges.
The Agnipath scheme is not an untested experiment on our armed forces as many other countries like China, France, Russia, USA, and UK have such short-term military engagement for the youth. The Modi Government has held extensive wide-ranging consultation with the armed forces. Best practices from countries across the world have been studied and a tried-and-tested human resource managment system is being put in place to keep in tune with the changing dynamics of warfare.
Another ridiculous myths that is being peddled is that Agniveers will become a national security threat as they may be recruited by terrorist organizations.
This is not just an insult to the youth of the nation but also demeans the ethos and values of the Indian armed forces.
Even today, thousands retire from armed forces but there have not been any instances of them joining anti-national forces.
By blatantly peddling such disinformation the Opposition is not just politicizing the army but is also hampering the country from emerging as a strong military power.
A Much-Needed Timely Reform
Warfare today has become more complex. The man-to-man engagement between armies of two hostile countries is much lesser than what it used to be. The context of war has also changed with cyber warfare, biowar and so on. Reforms in recruitment has been a long-standing demand putforth by the highest echleons of the armed forces. In fact, this scheme itself was formulated by the Department of Military Affairs which comprises military officials and not civil servants.
The need of the hour is to have an army which is young, agile, and tech-savvy which is what the Agnipath scheme tries to achieve.
The youth of the country should realize that their insecurities are being played by vested interests to further their own political agenda.
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Why Agnipath Scheme Is The Need Of The Hour
In February 2018, I had the opportunity to go to Israel to represent the BJP at the All Party Young Leaders delegation hosted by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of Israel. It was an enthralling and an eye-opening experience both at a personal and professional level.
At that time, I had the privilege to interact with many Israeli youngsters from myriad backgrounds. One was working as a public policy specialist with the government. Another 28-year-old woman was leading a team at a start-up in Tel Aviv. There was another young man who was working as an engineer at Intel.
All of them had one thing in common – they all had served in the Israel Defense Forces as part of their conscription.
When those completing school in many parts of the world are busy making university-related decisions, students in Israel prepare themselves for something else – a service in the military.
For these youth, a short stint at the armed forces becomes an opportunity to develop their personality and acquire skills which they go on to carry with them for the rest of their lives.
Intrigued, I had asked them about their experience in the armed forces, what they do, where do they get posted, what opportunities open up after the conscription period and so on.
Their tales only made me envious.
I was able to realize that the conscription has made Israel become stronger with a young military and a more patriotic population which goes on to shine in whichever field they make their careers contributing to the country’s progress and development.
I had thought to myself – “if only such opportunities were made available for the youth back at home.”
The Youth Conundrum In India
But in India, students finishing school find themselves at crossroads where one way shows ‘medicine’, another way shows ‘engineering’ and another shows ‘commerce/accountancy’.
Most of them end up in the rat-race of either joining a medical or engineering college and others settle for doing a B.Com or a name-sake degree.
College too doesn’t became a space where these youth get to explore and unleash their talents. It becomes another 3-5 years of schooling. Herd-mentality sets in and everybody wants to get a job with a 5-6 figure salary or go abroad and settle down. Nothing wrong in that but it is time that youngsters in India ask themselves in what ways they can help in nation-building.
Be that as it may, there is another serious problem that is starting to rear its ugly-head – ‘wokeness’.
Wokeness is a problem that has started creeping inside young impressionable minds, thanks to social media. Poisoned by leftist media and influencers, many young minds today and are disconnected from their culture and lack a sense of patriotism. Sometimes, they even go the extent of antagonizing their own country for the sake of fame, like we see in cases like Disha Ravi, Safoora Zargar and many more. If this disease of ‘wokeness’ continues to spread, it will have serious implications for the country.
And that is precisely why the Agnipath scheme is the need of the hour which will induct more youth in the armed forces.
Busting The Myths Associated With Agnipath
Through the Agnipath scheme, young Indians in the 17.5 to 21 age group (a relaxation has been provided this year till 23) will be inducted into the army as ‘Agniveers’ and will serve in the armed forces for 4 years paving way for a younger armed forces.
One of the most common myth peddled by the Opposition and other naysayers of the scheme is about the insecure future of the Agniveers. But the truth is far from what they claim.
Upto 25% of Agniveers in a batch stand a chance to be inducted as permanent cadres in the armed forces after completing 4 years.
All Agniveers will be given a financial package of ₹11.71 lakh at the end of four years which will be exempted from income tax.
Those wishing to turn entrepreneurs are eligible to avail a loan and those wishing to study further will be provided with a certificate declaring that they have passed the Class 12 exam and can also take part in a bridging course for further studies.
Agniveers will also be given priority in recruitment of paramilitary forces like CAPF, CISF, etc.
States like Assam, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, etc have already declared that Agniveers will be given preference in police recruitment and other government jobs.
The Finance Minister has also asked banks to explore ways to support Agniveers.
To put it in a nutshell, if a youth enrolls today as an Agniveer, his or her bright future is guaranteed after four years.
Another baseless myth that is being peddled is that inducting youngsters would hamper the effectiveness of our armed forces. In essence, they’re questioning the abilities of our youth and the credibility of our military officers.
The Indian Armed Forces have assured that with the infusion of technology and revamping of the training programmes, the Agniveers woud have all the skill sets required to meet the operational challenges.
The Agnipath scheme is not an untested experiment on our armed forces as many other countries like China, France, Russia, USA, and UK have such short-term military engagement for the youth. The Modi Government has held extensive wide-ranging consultation with the armed forces. Best practices from countries across the world have been studied and a tried-and-tested human resource managment system is being put in place to keep in tune with the changing dynamics of warfare.
Another ridiculous myths that is being peddled is that Agniveers will become a national security threat as they may be recruited by terrorist organizations.
This is not just an insult to the youth of the nation but also demeans the ethos and values of the Indian armed forces.
Even today, thousands retire from armed forces but there have not been any instances of them joining anti-national forces.
By blatantly peddling such disinformation the Opposition is not just politicizing the army but is also hampering the country from emerging as a strong military power.
A Much-Needed Timely Reform
Warfare today has become more complex. The man-to-man engagement between armies of two hostile countries is much lesser than what it used to be. The context of war has also changed with cyber warfare, biowar and so on. Reforms in recruitment has been a long-standing demand putforth by the highest echleons of the armed forces. In fact, this scheme itself was formulated by the Department of Military Affairs which comprises military officials and not civil servants.
The need of the hour is to have an army which is young, agile, and tech-savvy which is what the Agnipath scheme tries to achieve.
The youth of the country should realize that their insecurities are being played by vested interests to further their own political agenda.
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