Marking the 25th anniversary of the Kargil war, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today paid tributes to the martyred armies and praised the sacrifices of the soldiers. During the event, the Prime Minister addressed the criticism related to Agnipath scheme, asserting that the scheme was to modernise and rejuvenate the armed forces. He rejected the allegations that it was introduced to save pension funds.

The Prime Minister was speaking after visiting the Kargil War Memorial on July 26 to commemorate India’s victory over Pakistan in the Kargil War during the Kargil Vijay Diwas. On July 26, 1999, India defeated Pakistani forces from their occupied positions on the mountain tops of Northern Kargil District in Ladakh.

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Addressing the criticisms, PM Modi clarified that the goal of the controversial Agnipath scheme was to make the army young and fit for any war and noted that some people made the issue related to national security a subject of politics.

“Some people are doing politics of lies for their personal benefit even on this reform of the army,” the Prime Minister slammed the criticizers, claiming that these are the same people who weakened the country’s army by committing scams worth thousands of crores in the army.

PM Modi called Agnipath a crucial reform initiated by the Indian Army, pointing out that there had been decades of discussions in Parliament on the need to rejuvenate the armed forces. The concerns that the average age of Indian soldiers was higher than the global average also needed to be addressed.

Though the issue has been raised in numerous committees over the years, there was a lack of will to address this challenge related to national security. The Agnipath scheme has been introduced to address this concern by making the armed forces younger and keeping them continuously battle-ready, the Prime Minister added.

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Referring to the scheme, PM Modi underscored that though the will to solve the challenge was not shown earlier, the country has addressed the concern through the Agneepath.

Among criticisms against the scheme include the lack of job security for the recruits, noting the limited four-year tenure. Moreover, Agniveers also do not receive pensions, evoking concerns about long-term employment and financial stability in the army.