Agniveer revision: Needed course correction or a belated U-turn? What experts say

The government’s revision of the 2022 Agnipath policy offers 75 per cent of Agniveers a two-year extension beyond their initial four-year term, while the remaining 25 per cent stay eligible for permanent absorption into regular service. Defence experts who spoke to The Federal largely welcomed the change, saying it fixes a flaw in the original design: the armed forces were losing trained personnel just as they became operationally useful.

Major General A.K. Sivaj (retd) said a six-year engagement lets the military make fuller use of its trained soldiers. He cited feedback from Galwan, Operation Sindhur, the Russia-Ukraine war and Middle East conflicts, which suggested that short-tenure recruits without regular status struggled with motivation and discipline. He added that better job security may also stop young people from drifting toward paramilitary forces like the BSF and CRPF, but said full casualty benefits for Agniveers killed in action must be brought on par with regular soldiers.

Major General Sanjay Meston (retd) and Lieutenant General Sanjay Kulkarni (retd) rejected the idea that this is a rollback. Meston said a review mechanism was built into the June 2022 framework, and that the armed forces themselves, through commanding officers, supplied the feedback. He noted that nothing prevents the military from retaining more than 25 per cent if needed.

Kulkarni called Agnipath an evolving work in progress, saying Agniveers have proved disciplined, tech-savvy and motivated. Those absorbed after the extension can serve until age 42 or 43 with full pension benefits, while others can move into the corporate sector or reserved government jobs.

Political analyst and advocate Nikhil Jain was more critical, calling the revision “a step in the right direction after taking 10 steps in the wrong direction.” He argued that the original policy dismantled a recruitment system that guaranteed job security and pensions, and left young recruits, especially from marginalised backgrounds, anxious about their future at 24. He said it showed major structural decisions being taken before their long-term consequences were studied. With state elections approaching, the timing of the announcement remains politically contested, though the military experts maintain that it is an operational correction rather than a political U-turn.