Agnipath scheme: No question of rollback, says NSA Ajit Doval, urges youth to have faith in PM Modi's leadership

Amid ongoing protests against the Centre’s Agnipath recruitment scheme, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Tuesday urged the youth to be ''positive and have faith in the nation and PM Modi's leadership.''

New Delhi: Amid ongoing protests against the Centre’s Agnipath recruitment scheme, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Tuesday said that there is no question of its rollback while urging the youths to have faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership and his decisions. "There is no question of any rollback..," National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval said when asked if there is any chance of rollback of the Agnipath scheme due to the ongoing protests.

#WATCH | "There is no question of any rollback..," says National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval when asked if there is any chance of rollback of #AgnipathScheme due to the ongoing protests. pic.twitter.com/47a0NvO0Pp — ANI (@ANI) June 21, 2022

"My message to the youth who want to become 'Agniveers' is that be positive, have faith in the nation, have faith in the leadership and also in yourself," NSA Ajit Doval said in an interview to ANI.

"Be positive, have faith in the nation, the leadership and also in yourself," NSA Ajit Doval's message to the youth of the nation. pic.twitter.com/Oq7ft5xHiX — ANI (@ANI) June 21, 2022

The NSA, speaking to news agency ANI, said that the in the future we are heading towards a scenario where there will be contactless wars against invisible enemies and the country needs a young fit and agile army.

"The whole war is undergoing a great change. We are going toward contactless wars and also going towards the war against the invisible enemy. Technology is taking over at a rapid pace. If we have to prepare for tomorrow, then we have to change,” Doval said.

The NSA went on to say that security is a dynamic concept and it cannot remain static. "It is only in relation with the environment in which we have to protect our national interest and national assets."

"The whole war is undergoing a great change. We are going toward contactless wars, and also going towards the war against the invisible enemy. Technology is taking over at a rapid pace. If we have to prepare for tomorrow, then we have to change," he said.

Broadly speaking, they come under the four heads. It requires equipment, it requires change in systems and structures, it requires change in technology, it requires change in manpower, policies and they have to be futuristic: National Security Advisor Ajit Doval to ANI#Agnipath pic.twitter.com/3mEXQTAg4v — ANI (@ANI) June 21, 2022

Doval stressed that "There is a need to look at it (the Agnipath Scheme) in a perspective. Agnipath is not a standalone scheme in itself. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, one of his prime priorities was how to make India secure and strong. That required many avenues, many steps - multitude of them."

Speaking about the priority accorded by the government to modernise and update the military infrastructure, the National Security Advisor said, "Broadly speaking, they come under the four heads. It requires equipment, it requires a change in systems and structures, it requires a change in technology, it requires a change in manpower, policies and they have to be futuristic."

The "transformative" Agnipath scheme, announced by Union Minister Rajnath Singh on June 14, in the presence of the three service chiefs provides for the recruitment of into the Armed services of youths between the age bracket of 17-and-a-half-years to 21 for only four years with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years. 

The Centre later extended the upper age limit to 23 years for recruitment in 2022.Several states across the country have been witnessing violent protests since the scheme was announced.

The Army, Navy and the Air Force on Sunday came out with a broad schedule for recruitment of soldiers under the Agnipath scheme while asserting that it is being implemented to bring down the age profile of the armed forces. 

(With Agency Inputs)