FIERY THOUGHTS

Pic Courtesy: Internet

Burning public property and violence will not solve any problem.

 

Agni veer on Agni path: Questions galore

 

• Is the Agni path scheme good for armed forces?
• Is the scheme good for defence aspirants?
• What are its advantages?
• What are the drawbacks?
• Do the accrued benefits outweigh the  disadvantages  ?
• What will be the effect on defence preparedness?
• What will be their utility during the limited period?
• What after four years?
• Are we borrowing ideas from abroad and blindly implementing them?
• In trying to solve one problem are we creating many more?
• Is the cure deadlier than the disease?
• Is it being implemented haphazardly?

 

Flaming Thoughts

• Youth in India look for job security while joining the military.

 

• The main advantage of the scheme is a reduction in pension bills.

 

• Considering the training period and the leave period the agniveer will be effective only for about two to two and half year.

 

• The question arises that for such a short period, what all do you train him for.

 

• It will adversely affect the efficiency and effectiveness of the military.

 

• Will it bring a detached culture with a temporary phase feeling (Military Tourism)?

 

• The military hierarchy will be at a loss as to where and for what to use him in this limited period.

 

• The dilemma in Army would be about sending them to forward border areas.

 

• Air Force and Navy would wonder if they can be trusted with tech-heavy sophisticated systems.

 

• Will they have a stigma of military rejects if not retained after four years.

 

• The promise is being made for lateral absorption into a paramilitary force, state government jobs, DPSUs, and a few private industries. The question to be asked is all these years how many much better trained and well-disciplined ex-servicemen have they taken so far?

 

• It seems the military will become a training institute for paramilitary, government offices, and industry.

 

• There are two golden rules while tinkering with HR Policies.

 

• It should be studied exhaustively in the minutest detail. The short, medium and long-term repercussions should be considered.

 

• Any HR policy should be implemented gradually in phases.

 

• All the senior top brass of the three services have been asked to defend the scheme on media. Somehow it doesn’t seem right.

 

• Fact about military training also affects the mind, encouraging loyalty to the country is true, but when the basic needs are met, and further the mind can change anytime.

 

• The thought of many of these arms-trained youth being on the street unemployed and dejected is not very comforting.

 

• Will separatist insurgent groups use this facility for free training of their cadres?

 

• There will be a rat race to make it the 25% that will be retained in the military.

 

• How will this process of selection work? Who will be responsible for it? Will it create corruption at the selection level?

 

Dousing the fire

 

• So far the approach has been to light the fire and then do fire fighting.

 

• Fire fighting effort:

• • Declaration about a one-time waiver of age to 23 years.

• • Asking military top brass to endorse the scheme

• • Asking captive agencies, offices, and industry to promise lateral employment.

• • Displaying the number of meetings and hours that have gone in the deliberations. I wish the same kind of effort was put into the decisions related to operational matters and capability enhancement of the military.

 

Making the best of the fire

 

• The government has already rolled out the scheme and declared that there will be no rollback.

 

• Criticising the scheme and finding faults will not help.

 

• It is time now to put on the thinking caps and find ways and means to make the best of it.

 

• Rock the boat, but gently so that it doesn’t capsize. I still feel the government should reconsider and implement it in phases.
  • Try a pilot project first.
  • Increase the percentage of this entry gradually over a few years.
  • Carry out mid-course reviews and corrections based on the feedback and lessons learnt.

 

• Some of the issues that need deliberation are:

 

• • Training to be imparted.

• • Possible utilisation patterns.

• • The fair selection process for retention – avoid malpractice and favouritism and ensure impartiality.

• • Training post retention.

• • Periodic review of the scheme.

• • The minimum fixed quota for lateral induction into paramilitary, government offices, and industry.

• • Monitoring mechanism so that the trained youth do not get recruited by terrorist organisations and anti-social elements.

 

Fierier Thought

Why don’t we think of a revolutionary scheme for the induction of cyber or digital warriors, with different terms and conditions and utilisation patterns, to deal with future wars in new domains (Cyber, Space, Info and Electronic)

 

Interesting Thought

Why not a similar scheme for all the Government departments and agencies.

Nation building is everyone’s responsibility

 

Pondering Thought

In this country, dealings are in thousands of crores, in cricket, celebrities, and corruption scams.

But the pension bill pinches.

 

Honest Talks

A genuine concern of a potential Agni veer – drop in groom market value resulting in reduced dowry.

 

Suggestions and value additions are most welcome

 

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