Akshay Laxman Gawate, an Agniveer at the tender age of 20, died of cardiac arrest at Siachen glacier in the line of duty. Siachen glacier is located 20,000 feet above sea level on the India-Pakistan border and is the largest glacier in India. It is also the world's highest battlefield, where soldiers deployed here have to perform their duties in extremely low oxygen levels.
Martyr Gawate breathed his last on the night of October 20 at around 11:30 pm. Hailing from Pimpalgaon Sarai village in Buldana, Maharashtra, Gawate had completed only nine months as Agniveer. He is survived by his parents and sister, who one hopes, may find the strength to endure this incomprehensible pain. However, Akshay’s death again raises the questions regarding the recruitment of soldiers under Agnipath scheme. Around two weeks ago, another Agniveer Amritpal Singh from Punjab had died of self-inflicted injury who was posted along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir’s Mankote sector. Singh was barely 19 years and had died of a bullet wound fired from his own service rifle. Are insufficient training and mental stress the reasons causing the deaths of these young Agniveers?
The Agniveer scheme was introduced in June 2022 to train youth aged between 17-21 years for 31 weeks for recruitment in the armed forces, navy and if needed, in the airforce. The soldiers are recruited for only 4 years and on the completion of the term, are relieved at a one-time combined package of nearly Rs 11.70 lakh which also include 30% amount deducted from their salaries. Not only is this a ‘use and throw’ model applied for our national heroes, but what is more concerning is the training given to the aspirants. According to Maj Gen Amrit Pal Singh (retd) who served in Indian Armed Forces, it takes around three to five years to train a war-ready soldier, while the training period for Agniveers is of only 31 weeks. Therefore, the abilities of the trainees do not go beyond increasing physical capacity and primary training of handling weapons.
Hence, deploying such under-trained soldiers in harsh terrains not only puts their lives in danger, but is also a huge risk for the country in terms of sudden military actions. If Agniveers are deployed in such difficult battlefields then their four-year term will end by the time they adequately learn the crucial skills. And the authorities will have to recruit half-trained agnvieers over and over again. Singh’s opinion is persuasive given the country’s constant war-like situations with China and Pakistan. It does not feel logical to deploy part-time soldiers at such borders where tensions are always high. Besides, considering the training period of Agniveers and the leave available for them, their active service remains restricted to only 33 months. What and how much will they be able to learn in just 33 months? And since the Agniveers will be part of the armed forces for only four years, their dedication towards the country’s prestige, identity and upholding loyalty is also debatable. Because although the Agniveers will receive the corpus amount of Rs 11.71 lakh after completion of the service term, they receive only Rs 30,000 in-hand salary for the first three years which becomes Rs 40,000 (in-hand) in the final year. But what if the Agniveer during his four-year tenure loses his life due to insufficient skills while being deployed in unfavourable places such as Siachen or Jammu and Kashmir?
Agniveers are not given guard of honour when they suffer accidental death in the line of duty; something that happened with Punjab’s Amritpal Singh. Indian Army said that the military honours were denied for Singh as he had died due to suicide. Punjab Chief Minister then raised objection over the same and announced him as a martyr on the behalf of the State government. Although the government has introduced the Agnipath scheme with the emotional connotation of serving the country through employment opportunities, the scheme’s main intention is to cut down the hefty pension given to retired soldiers. That was the reason why violent protests erupted in Bihar, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana after the announcement of the scheme. Railways, buses and other public property was damaged in the protests which also left hundreds of people injured. However, the scheme was implemented anyway and also received a response from the youth. The reason? --unemployment. Nevertheless if the unemployment is causing sacrifices of tender-aged youth like Akshay, it should be pondered upon.