Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday defended the Agnipath scheme of short-term military recruitments as a “necessary reform by the sena (armed forces)” to ensure younger, fitter and battle-ready personnel.

The Congress described Modi’s effort to portray the scheme as an armed forces initiative as a “blatant lie”, and accused him of “trying to evade his responsibility for this disastrous scheme”.

Seventy-five per cent of the Agnipath recruits, known as Agniveers, are to be demobbed after four years without pension or gratuity.

Many veterans have said the scheme, launched in June 2022, would damage morale and professionalism in the armed forces.

Modi accused the Opposition of playing politics with a matter related to national security.

“Some people are spreading the misconception that the government has brought in this scheme to save pension money,” he told a gathering in Dras, Ladakh, on the 25th anniversary of the Kargil victory.

“The question of pension for today’s recruits will arise after 30 years. Why would the government take a decision on it today? It should leave it to the governments of that time. We have respected this decision taken by the armed forces because we put rashtraneeti (governance) over rajneeti (politics).”

Modi said the scheme represented a “necessary reform by the armed forces”, prompted by concern over the average age in the Indian military outstripping the global average.

“We have addressed this through the Agnipath scheme. The goal is to keep the forces young and ready for war at all times. Unfortunately, a sensitive issue connected to national security was made a matter of politics by some people,” the Prime Minister said.

“These are the same people who weakened our army by committing scams worth thousands of crores.”

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge hit back, saying: “It is very unfortunate and deplorable that Prime Minister Narendra Modiji is doing petty politics even on occasions like paying tribute to martyrs on Kargil Vijay Divas. No Prime Minister has ever done this before.”

He added: “Modiji is saying that his government implemented the Agnipath scheme at the behest of the army. This is a blatant lie and an unforgivable insult to our valiant armed forces. Modiji, it is you who are spreading lies!”

Kharge said the former army chief, General M.M. Naravane, was on record saying only 25 per cent of Agnipath recruits were supposed to be demobbed after four years, with the remaining 75 per cent made permanent.

“But the Modi government did the opposite and forcibly implemented this scheme for all three armed forces,” Kharge said.

Naravane has in his memoirs, Four Stars of Destiny — excerpts from which were released late last year — said the Agnipath scheme had taken the army “by surprise” and was a “bolt out of the blue” for the navy and the air force. This has prompted some veterans to accuse the government of implementing the scheme without consultations.

Kharge alleged the government had stalled the publication of the book.

He underlined that many retired officers had lambasted the scheme, saying it was endangering national security and the aspirations of the rural youth.

Several veterans have accused the government of implementing the scheme to cut the ballooning salary and pension bills in the armed forces.

Two former navy chiefs last month questioned the combat efficiency of Agniveers.

Admiral K.B. Singh and Admiral Arun Prakash said the “barely trained (Agnipath) recruits, fit only for sentry duties” would “degrade the combat effectiveness” of the military.

Before the scheme, a fit general duty soldier served 15 to 18 years.

The Opposition parties had made the scheme an issue in the recent parliamentary elections, with an internal BJP report suggesting that it cost the party several seats in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.