The disclosure by former army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane that the Agnipath scheme launched by the Narendra Modi government had surprised the army and was a “bolt from the blue” for the navy and air force has reignited the debate on it, prompting some veterans to accuse the government of bulldozing the scheme through without consultation.

“We in the army were taken by surprise by this turn of events, but for the navy and air force it came like a bolt from the blue,” PTI quoted Gen. Naravane as saying in his yet-to-be published memoir Four Stars of Destiny.

The book is being published by Penguin Random House India.

“Having become a tri-service matter, it now fell on the chief of defence staff Gen Bipin Rawat to take the proposal forward, albeit with the army remaining the lead service,” writes Gen. Naravane.

Naravane was the army chief from December 31, 2019, to April 30, 2022.

Stating that the first year’s starting salary for Agniveer recruits was initially an all-inclusive Rs 20,000 per month, the former army chief writes: “This was just not acceptable. Here we are talking about a trained soldier who was expected to lay down his life for the country. Surely a soldier could not be compared with a daily-wage labourer? Based on our very strong recommendations, this was later raised to Rs 30,000 per month.”

PTI has reviewed excerpts from the book.

Under the Agnipath scheme, launched in June last year, soldiers known as Agniveers are recruited in the army, air force and navy on a short-term contractual basis for four years and they are not entitled to gratuity and pension benefits.

Before this scheme, a fit general-duty soldier had to serve 10-15 years.

On Wednesday a former lieutenant general told The Telegraph that Gen. Naravane’s disclosure clearly shows that the government had not consulted the armed forces before announcing the “disastrous” scheme.

“It is crystal clear now that the political leaders who had taken the final decision on this so-called India’s most radical recruitment policy did not have any idea of the military ethos and tradition. How could the government announce such a scheme without any consultation with the stakeholders — the armed forces?” he said.

Veteran Birender Dhanoa in a post on X wrote on Wednesday: “General Naravane’s candid clarification (a little late in the day) about the genesis of the #Agniveer scheme and its implementation across the three services at the behest of the PMO shows how all the star rankers who praised it to high heaven were just Birbals in the court.”

Another veteran who retired as air vice-marshal said: “This employment scheme was nothing but a death knell for the armed forces. Gen. Naravane’s disclosure reveals that there was no pilot project to test this scheme before implementation. Is the armed forces in this country now reduced to running employment schemes?”

In a long post, Colonel Amit Kumar wrote on X: “...This scheme was politically motivated and was an attempt to intrude into the Armed forces. Reasons to fulfil the target of vacancy for unemployed youth as per manifesto & We are busy fighting & sorting or Silence to avoid affect on promotions.”

“Damage has been done but can be repaired. All Veterans should be together on this issue. Fauj should not let anyone barge in functioning. In the last 10 years, we have been witnessing the involvement of Forces in canvassing the government’s propaganda. The media is working as their spokesperson. Anyone who speaks against the Govt is declared as a National enemy. Our social media accounts are put on freeze. Hope the Govt takes this scheme out.”

Government sources said the necessary permission was not granted by the government for Gen. Naravane’s upcoming book in which he has shared insights about the Agnipath scheme as well as recalled the border tensions with China in eastern Ladakh during his tenure in 2020. Sources said that as per the norm, clearances from the government were required beforehand on books that deal with issues concerning national security, especially if the author has held a sensitive position in the government.

Gen. Naravane did not respond to this newspaper’s calls and messages.

Several army veterans had earlier slammed the Modi government for the “disastrous” and “ill-thought-out” Agnipath scheme, launched with the apparent aim of cutting the ballooning salary and pension bills of the armed forces.

They had said the scheme would adversely affect the efficiency and effectiveness of the military as it was not in keeping with the erstwhile military traditions and ethos. They also questioned the professionalism and preparedness of soldiers with a four-year stint, arguing that it takes at least seven-eight years for an infantryman to become an experienced battle-hardened soldier and three-four years for recruits to learn the basic ropes of soldiering.

After the announcement of the scheme in June last year, violent protests were reported from several parts of the country as demonstrators called for its withdrawal. Protesters set ablaze trains and blocked railway tracks against the new military recruitment scheme.