Agnipath scheme: Armed Forces seek larger retention of Agniveers after end of 4-year tenure

Agniveers recruited under the Agnipath scheme began their training in early 2023. The initial batches of Agniveers will complete their four-year tenure with the services later this year.

All of them would initially be released from the services, and the selected number of Agniveers who volunteer to serve in the defence forces would be enrolled back as regular soldiers based on merit.

It has been learnt that the Navy will likely seek a higher retention percentage of sailors who joined under the scheme at around 75 per cent, while the Army and the IAF might seek an increase to around 50 per cent from the current 25 per cent.

The defence forces have maintained so far that the retention percentage remains at 25 per cent at present.

The Indian Express sent queries to the Army, Navy and IAF on July 1 on whether they are seeking to retain a greater percentage of Agniveers in the three services and the reasons for that, but is yet to receive any response.

The need for more retention has been felt keeping in view the requirement of a larger pool of trained and experienced soldiers, who have participated in multiple operations over the last four years and are experienced in handling new technologies and weapons.

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This is likely to be discussed further between the services and the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) to explore feasible options.

According to sources, even if an increase in the retention percentages of Agniveers is not approved, certain specialised units might induct a higher percentage of soldiers from among the retained Agniveers, who are more experienced, while other units may take a larger number of soldiers from among the Agniveers who will still be serving their four-year tenure.

This may be done while keeping the overall retention percentage at 25 per cent, which is the current approved percentage.

For instance, the newly raised Bhairav battalions of the Army may eventually have a larger percentage of retained soldiers as compared to regular infantry battalions, which might have a larger percentage of Agniveers undergoing their four-year tenure.

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A proposal seeking higher retention percentages had been forwarded to DMA in the past, but was returned for re-evaluation.

People privy to the development said the training of soldiers, sailors and airmen under the Agnipath scheme has been underway in full swing in all services.

In the last training year, around 70,000 Agniveers were undergoing training in the Army alone, across all regimental centres. In the next training year, around 90,000 vacancies are likely to be released to increase the recruitment of Agniveers in the Army.

By increasing the number of vacancies for Agniveers progressively over the next two years, the Army plans to make up for the shortfall of around 1.8 lakh troops in the force, The Indian Express had reported in November last year.

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In the last four years, a series of MoUs with various banks have been signed towards various schemes for the Agniveers. Their allowances, such as leave, are also at par with regular soldiers.

In October last year, The Indian Express reported that Army Commanders would likely discuss the retention percentage of Agniveers at the Army Commanders’ Conference that month. In response to the report, the Army subsequently said that such a plan did not feature in the official agenda of the conference.