Agniveers row | BJP’s 10% job reservation could breach 50 pc quota threshold

The debate over the future of retired Agniveers from the Indian Armed Forces has become a major point of confrontation between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Opposition parties which are hoping to corner the Union government on the issue in the ongoing session of Parliament.

Although the Centre recently announced a 10 per cent reservation for retired Agniveers in paramilitary forces and several BJP-ruled states, including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan, have made similar reservations for them in the state police, the road ahead for the former soldiers is likely to be long.

Modi govt ready for discussion

As the Opposition parties try to put pressure on the Narendra Modi-led NDA government and also promised that when the INDIA alliance comes to power, it will scrap the Agnipath scheme, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the government was ready to discuss the issue in Parliament in the ongoing session.

To further dispel the claims of the Opposition parties, it was the turn of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to step in and blame the Opposition for politicising the issue concerning national security. Speaking at the 25th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas, Modi said there was a deliberate attempt by the Opposition to create confusion on the issue.

While politics continues over the fate of retired soldiers from the Armed Forces, experts feel steps taken by the Union government should be appreciated but the road ahead for Agniveers may not be easy.

“The decision of the government to announce a 10 per cent reservation for retired Agniveers is in the right direction but the Union government will have to amend the rules of recruitment and come out with a notification first. The government will then have to table it in Parliament,” GK Pillai, former Union home secretary, told The Federal.

Talking about some of the BJP-ruled states that have announced a similar 10 per cent reservation for Agniveers, Pillai said each state has to make changes in the law since law and order is a state subject.

“The decision of the state governments to give 10 per cent reservation for induction of Agniveers in state police will also have to go through a similar process and they will have to present it before their respective state Assemblies. The recruitment organisations differ in some states. While public service commissions are the recruiting agencies in some states, in other states, different organisations are involved in the recruitment of police personnel. The state governments will have to change recruitment procedures for these organisations,” said Pillai.

Not the first time

Even as the Centre under the BJP, after the recent underperformance in the Lok Sabha elections, and some of its state governments are working overtime to pacify the youth, the decision to give 10 per cent reservation to retired Agniveers has paved the way for lateral entry in both paramilitary forces and police department under state governments.

Interestingly, this is not the first time when the Union government has toyed with the idea of allowing lateral entry into paramilitary forces. In the past too, there have been instances when retired army soldiers and short service commission officers were recruited by the Border Security Force (BSF).

“The significance of the decision of the Union government is that never before the government has allowed lateral entry in paramilitary and police forces in such a huge number. There have been cases when retired army soldiers and people under the short service commission have been recruited by the BSF but it has never been on such a large scale,” Pillai added.

Need for political unity

With the BJP-NDA and Opposition at loggerheads over the implementation of the Agnipath scheme, experts believe that there is a need for greater unity between the central government and Opposition parties to implement the 10 per cent reservation in police force announced by a handful of BJP-ruled states.

Experts point out that while there would be large-scale retirement of Agniveers annually, the problem of giving them employment can be solved if all BJP and Opposition-ruled state governments announce a 10 per cent reservation in the police force.

“There would be large-scale retirement from the armed forces, and the issue of providing employment opportunities can be resolved only if all state governments announce 10 per cent reservations. Otherwise, the employment opportunities for retired Agniveers would not be enough to deal with the situation,” Prakash Singh, former Director General of Uttar Pradesh Police and BSF, told The Federal.

The problem is not limited to the recruitment of Agniveers but some experts feel since the 10 per cent reservation surpasses the 50 per cent quota threshold, the decision could get challenged in courts and also come under legal scrutiny.

“The announcement made by the Union government and BJP-ruled states is political posturing. This decision has been taken by them because the issue of Agniveers is gaining momentum. The announcements also come after the BJP’s underperformance in the Lok Sabha elections. Since the 10 per cent reservation will breach the 50 per cent threshold, it is possible that the decision will get challenged in court. Even if the Supreme Court allows, there is no doubt that it will come under legal scrutiny,” Yatindra Singh Sisodia, Director at Madhya Pradesh Institute of Social Science Research, told The Federal.