MINISTRY OF DEFENCE-YEAR END REVIEW 2022

2022 was the year of path-breaking reforms for Ministry of Defence as giant strides were made with Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh at the helm to transform the military into a youthful, modern and 'Aatmanirbhar' force, as envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Aviation World Magazine presents the year end review 2022 of MOD and highlights the path breaking initiatives taken for strengthening the defence forces and transformation for 'Make in India' to 'Make for the World'.

India's Armed Forces are equipped with state-of-the-art weapons/, equipment, technologies manufactured by a self-reliant indigenous industry. A major reform was rolled out with the aim to build a youthful & tech-savvy military ready to meet future challenges. Continuous efforts to increase defence exports in order to achieve the collective goal of global peace and prosperity, in line with the 'Make in India, Make for the World' vision, bore fruit as many countries showed keen interest in Indian platforms, resulting in record defence exports.

Border area development, Nari Shakti, expansion of National Cadet Corps (NCC) and setting up of new Sainik Schools to instill patriotism among youth moved forward with renewed thrust during the year 2022.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS Agnipath- Major Transformative Reform

The Agnipath scheme for recruitment of youth in the Armed Forces was launched in June 2022 allowing patriotic youth (Agniveers) to don the sacred uniform and serve the country for a period of four years. The scheme has been designed to enable a youthful profile of the Armed Forces and bring about a transformational shift towards a more tech-savvy military.

The recruitment entails an attractive monthly package with Risk & Hardship allowances as applicable in the three Services and a one-time 'Seva Nidhi' package to be paid to Agniveers upon completion of their engagement period. The response from patriotic youth towards the scheme has been encouraging. Over 54 lakh registrations, including by female aspirants, were received by the three Services for recruitment into the Armed Forces (Indian Army - 37.09 lakh; Indian Navy 9.55 lakh and Indian Air Force-7.69 lakh). Training centres are geared up to commence training shortly with improved training infrastructure.