The fiery protests against Agnipath have died down. Prospective Agniveers are no longer torching rail locos and buses, but filling up recruitment forms and doing push-ups for physical prowess tests. Once recruited, each one will try to outdo three of his buddies so that, after the fourth year, he will be among the one-fourth who will serve for a decade and half more, and retire with a lifelong pension and perks. All the very best!
What would the three losers do? They would go home with a purse of nearly ₹12 lakh each, plus all of what they would have saved from their monthly pay. They also have the promise of preference in police and PSU jobs, and of bank loans to start garages, gadget repair shops, or small factories. All the best!
Old fauji families that have been sending their sons in thousands for naam, namak and nishan are miffed, but have accepted fait accompli. After all, a job for four years is better than no job for many years. Hope for the best.
This story is from the August 14, 2022 edition of THE WEEK India.
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This story is from the August 14, 2022 edition of THE WEEK India.
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