Army may increase Agniveer intake to fix soldier shortfall
The army is examining a proposal to double the intake of Agniveers in its ranks — from the current 50,000 to 100,000 a year — with the move aimed at addressing shortage of soldiers in the PBOR (personnel below officer rank) cadre, officials aware of the matter said on Wednesday.
The army has a shortfall of around 180,000 soldiers, largely due to a freeze on legacy recruitment during the Covid years 2020-21, the officials said, asking not to be named. While recruitment was stopped then, around 60,000 soldiers retired every year during that period.
More than 3,000 Agniveers — barely 20 years old and recruited during the last two years — manned critical weapons and systems integral to the army’s hardy air defence (AD) shield activated during Operation Sindoor, which Pakistan couldn’t punch through during the May 7-10 clash with India.
The Agnipath recruitment model was introduced three years ago with the stated objective of keeping the armed forces young and battle-ready. Those recruited under the Agnipath model are called Agniveers. Agnipath was a major departure from the military’s decades-old recruitment system that was scrapped when the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government announced the new scheme in June 2022. It recruits soldiers for only four years, with a provision to retain 25% of them in regular service for another 15 years.
Soldiers who were recruited through the legacy recruitment system serve in the armed forces for about 20 years before they retire in their late 30s with pension and other benefits. On the other hand, Agniveers released after four years do not get any benefits that ex-servicemen are entitled to, including pension, medical care and canteen facilities.
