NOTIFY AGNIVEER TERMS IN THE GAZETTE, PUBLISH STATE-WISE FIGURES: KBS SIDHU TO RAKSHA MANTRI

Face2News/Chandigarh

The Centre should notify the terms of the Agniveers’ new “Second Tour of Duty” in the Official Gazette without delay, because official headlines and posters proclaiming that all Agniveers are “to be absorbed” are liable to be misinterpreted, KBS Sidhu, former Special Chief Secretary, Punjab, has urged Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh.

In a D.O. letter today, KBS Sidhu, who served as Secretary, Defence Services Welfare, Punjab, in 2002–03, welcomed the Cabinet decision of 4 November as a great relief to thousands of young soldiers and their families. More than 18,300 Agniveers were due to complete their engagement by 31 December.

KBS Sidhu stated that the Government’s communication is not misleading. However, the headline of the PIB release and the first panel of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry’s poster do not mention the two further years or the selection that follows.

The Defence Ministry’s poster is clearer, but it too is silent on the condition at six years. Only the text of the release says that enrolment is “subject to their willingness and their meeting selection criteria”.

This gap, he warned, could be exploited by elements hostile to the Government and the armed forces to spread confusion among soldiers and their families: first that all were promised absorption, and later that the promise was broken.

“An authoritative text is the best answer to rumour,” KBS Sidhu said.
He has asked that the notification set out the batches covered, the selection criteria at six years, any ceiling on absorption, the pay, Seva Nidhi and seniority benefits, and the terms on which those not selected will leave.

KBS Sidhu has also asked the Defence Ministry to publish batch-wise figures by State of domicile, without unit-level detail, so that State governments can prepare for those who may enter the civil job market. States, he pointed out, have planned reservations and recruitment around a four-year exit, and those plans now need recasting.

He further flagged that a recruit who joins at 21 and serves six years may fall outside the age limits for ex-Agniveers in the Central Armed Police Forces. With the Navy’s first cohort completing its term on 21 November, he sought early action. The letter is attached.