Congress Criticizes Agnipath Scheme, Raises Concerns Over Agniveers' Combat Readiness and Suicides

A day after the army refuted Rahul Gandhi's argument regarding payment to the family of an Agniveer killed in action, the Congress expanded the scope of its attack on the Agnipath scheme on Thursday by questioning the Agniveers' combat readiness and alleging a "high incidence of suicides" among them.

The chairman of the Congress's ex-servicemen department, Col. Rohit Chaudhary (retd), was called upon to refute Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's "half-truths" in Parliament, which he claimed had caused "confusion."

According to Chaudhary, the problem concerns not just Ajay Kumar, who perished in a landmine explosion in Jammu and Kashmir in January, but also the other 13 Agniveers who have passed away since the program's launch in June of last year.

Rahul has talked about Ajay a lot when he first met his parents in Punjab while doing electioneering. As the leader of the Opposition, he interrupted the debate on the motion of gratitude to the President's address earlier this week and brought up the deceased Agniveer.

The family said, according to Rahul, that it had not received any reimbursement from the government. Rajnath responded by clarifying that Agniveers who are killed in action receive compensation of Rs 1 crore.

Rahul refuted this on Wednesday by releasing a video in which he was heard indicating that Ajay's father had not gotten any funding from the government.

The army posted a message on X late on Wednesday night stating: "The family of Agniveer Ajay has already been paid ₹98.39 lakhs of the total amount due." Ex-Gratia and other benefits of roughly 67 lakhs, as applicable under the terms of the Agniveer Scheme, shall be given out on Final Account Settlement as soon as the necessary police verification is completed. The approximate total sum will be ₹1.65 Cr.

"Emoluments due to a fallen hero are paid expeditiously to the Next of Kin of departed soldiers, including Agniveers," the statement continued.

Veteran Colonel Amit Kumar (retd) wrote on X, citing the army statement, saying he "was expecting this kind of gesture under political pressure." However, keeping in mind that @rajnathsingh's statement unequivocally indicated that the government gives the Agniveer one crore. The insurance money, which is ₹48 lakh, is not considered an award or reward.

Chaudhary said, "The family was not very clear about the compensation due to it," in response to the question of whether the army was lying. "The military ought to inform families—who are frequently illiterate—of their entitlements and the source of all funds," he declared.

After investigating, we discovered that ₹1 crore came from the Punjab government and ₹50 lakh from the insurance that ICICI bank provides when we enroll in certain banks' defense service packages, such as SBI and ICICI, in case we are killed in action. Just ₹48 lakh of the total that the army must provide has been given. This has been deposited into his parents' joint account.

"We have not yet received the ₹8 lakh from the battle casualty money or the ₹44 lakh ex gratia sum. He should continue to get his wage for four more years in accordance with the plan. That won't happen.

Chaudhary clarified that the Congress's assertion that 13 Agniveers had passed away since June of last year was based on visits that former service members had made to the families of the fallen troops.

He insisted that it be made clear how they had passed away, alleging that many of them had committed suicide.

"If this is true, why do Agniveers commit suicide at such a high rate? I saw just one suicide in the army during my 26 years of duty. He stated, "If there are so many suicides, it indicates that the training is not strengthening their mental toughness.

A white paper about the Agnipath scheme was sought by Chaudhary.

As of as moment, the army has only formally acknowledged the deaths of four Agniveers. Regarding the Congress's allegation of 13 deceased Agniveers, Army sources declined to respond.

While Rahul has focused on the risks associated with deploying young people to the front lines after only six months of training, a former navy chief's social media post about how this was impacting the combat units has given credence to his argument.

"A lot of attention is (rightfully) being paid to the dismal post-demob prospects of young Agniveers and the in-service inequities. But is anyone concerned about the significant operational disadvantage that combat units face as a result of having to accept enlistees who are ill-suited for anything more than sentry work? On X, Admiral Arun Prakash (retired) had made a post.

The Congress raised concerns about the Agniveers' combat preparedness without bringing up this topic, claiming that not only their lives were at danger but also the security of the country.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Press Time staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.