Agnipath scheme: A game changer for Indian village women

Col Ashok Kini (Retired): Recently, Defence Minister Rajanath Singh launched the Agnipath recruitment scheme, a “Transformative Scheme” for the Indian Armed Forces. Under this new scheme, around 46,000 soldiers will be recruited from both boys and girls, in the first phase, and 25% of the batch will be re-enrolled in their respective service for a period of 15 years. The remaining 75% will be trained, skilled, empowered with Seva Nidhi and will be released to the society or other services where reservations are being made for Agniveers. Hence women from different states can take this scheme as an opportunity to make them Agni Veer Naris.

The Agnipath scheme can change the mindset of the Indian village women, economically, socially and culturally and prove to be a “game changer” for them.

‘Gender sensitivity issues’ and ‘women-empowerment’ have become the new buzzwords across the globe in the last few decades. The increased familiarity with this term has resulted in the slow transformation of most of the ideologies that have justified women inequalities in the social structures for the past so many years. The emerging debates that surround the concept of‘empowerment’ have had considerable effects on the well-established roots of the institutions that provide support to the existing power structures such as family, state etc.

Early marriages and treating women as child producing subjects, needs to be proved wrong by giving them due honour, worth and security of life.

Inspite of being within the confines of the territories where they have been placed all these years, women have started to become aware of the limitations. They have demanded equal spaces in the social institutions and for their identity.

The last few years have witnessed a sharp increase in the strategies of women’s development by the state in order to eliminate the gender gaps in the work opportunities, political participation, health facilities and distribution of resources.

In India more than 50% of women are suffering from various types of violence due to lack of skills, dependence on others, many organisations choosing them for pink colour jobs, space in urban areas etc. This can be changed through joining Agnipath scheme by which they will also get Seva Nidhi of Rs 11.7 lakh and Rs 1 cr of total life insurance . The government will help to rehabilitate Agniveers who get the release from the services after four years. They will be provided with skill certificates and bridge courses for easy absorption in the civil jobs.

The Agni Veer Naris too will earn a salary package of ₹30,000 in the first year. Then, they will get a 10% hike every year. That means, in the second year, their salary would be ₹33,000 , ₹36,500 for the third year and ₹40,000 for the fourth year. Meanwhile, around 30% of their salaries will be deducted every month for the Seva Nidhi corpus. And at the end of their service, i.e. after 4 years the Government will add an equal amount totalling upto ₹11.77 lakh and the same will be paid to each Agni Veer Nari.

This scheme will bring a big change in women representation in Agnipath and in society through many different ways economically.

In social perspective women in India are dealing with various problems like domestic violence, dowry deaths , lack of higher education, secondary space in family, lack of voice representation in family etc. If women joined this scheme they too get the social status, apart from financial security. They can utilise the money which they get during retirement for Higher Education, and setting up one business or start up, can build a house for family, can overcome the poverty problem etc. including their marriage expenses.

The problem, that treats women lesser in strength compared to men, that prevails in Haryana,

Rajasthan and some pockets of Uttar Pradesh needs to be addressed and also the adolescent to young, growing age of girls fill fear in the girl-parents’ mind and they face a lot of psychological problems. Agniveer scheme for the girls will give a worry-less life for girls and their parents in villages too.

India is a nation of different cultures and practices, where many families don’t allow women to work in the Armed Forces. They think it’s against their cultural practices and a woman’s job is to serve her husband. But this Agnipath scheme creates Agniveer NariShakti that empowers a girl to join armed forces at age of 17.5 to 21. If she works hard she can continue her service or else, she can also be a role model for other girls and women in villages where she can act as a “game changer” for that village.

This scheme cirtainly creates a grand opportunity, offered by the government for the young generation to wear the uniform, liberty that cannot be enjoyed by others.

Recruitment rallies under the Agnipath scheme will take place across India in August,

September and October after successful online registrations. The first batch comprising 25,000 personnel will join the Army training programme in the first and second week of December. The second lot of recruits will join their training around February 23.

A total of 83 recruitment rallies will be organised across the country to select around 40,000 personnel for the Army. Similarly, selection for Air Force and Navy, too, will be done through online registration and other physical and written tests.

Age criteria under the newly rolled out scheme, only aspirants between 17-and-a-half years and 21 years of age are eligible for recruitment. The Defence Ministry has said that it would allow those who were 21 years old in 2020, when recruitments were stalled, to also be eligible, only for this year. The Defence Ministry also said that “the upper age limit for the recruitment process for Agnipath scheme for 2022 is increased to 23 years.

Defence forces gradually are going to create infrastructure for training large number of Agniveers and Agni Veer Naris. Trainers provisions, hostel or barracks and disciplinary precautions are necessary in the beginning for successful training and further induction into forces.

It is very important for a girl to be independent in the family along with being physically strong.

Through this scheme, it is an added benefit which will make her family understand her worth. It is truly a game changer for every girl who gets an opportunity. Now this scheme, if available to her at the age of 17.5 and 18 years of age, she would have instilled a sense of worth and value to her core. The ability to care for her family, a delay in marriage, an awareness of the world around and an empowerment to contribute for the nation, family, herself and her friends will be immense, what she could have never imagined.

Every girl must understand her worth so that she can prove herself in every phase of life and be a role model and bread earner to her family.

It is a golden opportunity for the youths to choose their career in the Defence Forces, if they are keen to serve the nation with pride wearing a uniform.

Also, some other benefits are that a woman being considered not as strong as a man can now focus on their physical health more than anything else. Considering a job in armed forces, is all about a good physique and robust health which are basic parameters for them.

A studious girl can join armed forces and it helps her to pursue higher education on release too.

By the time she gets release, she can come out with the highest motivation. Being a woman does not matter here because everyone will be considered equal and trained equally and their empowerment will lead them on the path to success. Even though one may get release after four years, the career options post release are many and open. The uniform factor adds to the village girl’s personality. Trying for UPSC examinations and other competitive examinations comes easily into released women’s reach if guided by the government with few percentage of reservation.

The pride which comes along with wearing the uniform has no bound. Finally, the respect that she earns in the family and in villages in years to come will be, truly a long lasting feeling for he and to her family.

Agnipath is a real “game changer” scheme which will bring sea changes in the villages of India because of self-empowerment.

(Col Ashok Kini (Retired), is Former Comptroller of President’s House, to then president, Bharat Ratna Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, and former Advisor to Minister of State for Defence)