Former Army Chief Naravane Speaks On Agnipath; Argued To Retain More Personnel After The Four-Year Tenure (Photo X - Gen Manoj M. Naravane @mm_naravane)

General MM Naravane, in his memoir, considers the Agnipath scheme launched by the Indian Government in June 2022, a short-term four-year recruitment scheme, as “India”s most radical military recruitment policy,” according to Press Trust of India (PTI). Gen Naravane explained the birth of the “Agnipath” recruitment scheme in his upcoming book. As per his account, he in a meeting with the prime minister after becoming the Army Chief in 2020 sounded out about the ‘Tour of Duty’ scheme, which will recruit soldiers for short-term tenure.

But, months later, the PMO came up with a broader approach that applied not just to the intake of military personnel, but to the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Navy, covering all three services.

As per Naravane”s account, there were deliberations on various models before the eventual introduction of the Agnipath scheme in 2022.

The decision of the government was a surprise for Naravane and others in the army. “We in the army were taken by surprise by this turn of events, but for the navy and air force, it came like a bolt from the blue,” he writes.

Naravane said that his proposal during the meeting with the Prime Minister was only army-centric and like IAF and navy chiefs, he said he was surprised by the drastically transformative new scheme.

In the initial discussion, the plan was to retain 75 per cent of the recruited personnel in the army even after their four-year tenure, while 25 per cent would be allowed to be released.

He also remembers the discussion on the starting salary of the inductees under the Agnipath scheme, which was Rs 20,000 per month. He further says that the compensation was not acceptable as the soldiers cannot be compared to the daily-wage workers, and recommended increasing the amount, raising it to Rs 30,000 per month.

When asked why he was not selected for the position of chief of defence staff after General Bibi Rawat’s untimely death, he said “I never questioned the wisdom of the government when it made me the army chief, so why should I do so now?”