Tour of Duty – A Defence Scheme

The Department of Military Affairs launched the scheme “Tour of Duty” which is also known as the Agnipath Scheme. In this scheme, soldiers will be recruited in the Indian Defence Services for a period of 3 to 5 years. This scheme was introduced by the late Chief of Defence Staff “General Bipin Rawat”. The soldiers recruited in the scheme will be known as Agneeveers. Some people welcome this initiative of the government while others vehemently oppose it. Let’s discuss it.

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Points in the Favour

1. Save expenditure – For 3 to 5 services, magnifiers will not be granted pension which is ballooning. Also, the amount of money spent on the expenditure of the soldiers for 25 – 30 years will be saved and can be utilized for other purposes.
2. Spent budget on Modernization of Defence – It is seen that most of the fund alloted in the defence budget is spent on the pension of the retired staff. With the Tour of Duty scheme, that money will be saved and can be spent on modernization of the weapons and might help in investing in new emerging technology like Artificial Intelligence.
3. Exposure to the Defence services – Youngsters will get the chance to serve in the army, navy, airforce and other CAPF services. There is a number of youngsters who wants to serve the country for a period of like 4 to 5 years. This scheme will fulfil their dream.
4. Lack of Personnel – There were several reports claimed that there is a deficit of soldiers in the Indian Army and other services. This scheme might prove helpful in bridging that gap.
5. Hostile Neighbours – India has very aggressive and hostile neighbours like China and Pakistan. We must have to use our young blood, full of energy which will work as a deteriorative force for them.
6. Use of Technology – Students who graduated from eminent Indian institutes like IITs, NITs and IITs can contribute to the defence through their talented brains. They can introduce new technologies like AI, and IoT to India’s defence.

Points Against the Scheme

1. As per the scheme, fresh graduates will be recruited. So they might lose the specialisation in which they graduate after serving in the defence for 3 to 5 years. Corporates might show less interest in recruiting them which can lead to unemployment.
2. Recruitment process will require 8 to 9 months in the Tour of Duty scheme. So this arduous process of recruitment will increase the time period from the normal time of 3 years.
3. It is hard for the training staff to make the Agniveers specialized in military tactics in such a short time period. It might result in creating incompetency in our soldiers who are now famous for their discipline and specialization.
4. Bonding might get reduced between soldiers. In such a short span of time, it will not be easy to maintain a healthy bond with each other which may prove risky in combat.
5. It will be hard to convince youngsters to join defence services for such a shorter period of 3 years. Most of the younger ones look for sustainable jobs where they can secure their future. In this scheme, there are no such provisions after retirement.
6. Defence is a very sensitive issue. This short-term recruitment can make our forces less competent because of the shorter time period of training.

In the difficult time of geopolitics, mainly because of the war between Ukraine and Russia, it is vital for India to take such steps where they can fill the lacunae in the defence services like the issue of lack of personnel. At the same time, we should focus on the quality of the soldiers, not the quantity. By maintaining a balance between the two we can save our border from any kind of foreign intrusion or insurgency.