Revision summary
Agnipath (2022) recruits Agniveers for four years; about one-fourth join the regular cadre. Seva Nidhi pays those who exit; the aim is a younger, more technical, lower-pension force. India still needs experienced NCOs for borders and counter-insurgency. Risks: short tours, thin memory, and unproven civil absorption of leavers. The plan fits needs only if training, specialist retention, and jobs after tour are real.
Model answer
Introduction
Agnipath (2022) recruits Agniveers for a four-year tour, with about one-fourth retained in the regular cadre. Analysis must match that design to India’s need for a young, skilled, and affordable force.
Body
What the plan does
- Agniveers join Army, Navy, and Air Force on a short-service model; a Seva Nidhi corpus is paid to those who leave after four years.
- Age band (originally 17.5–21, later relaxed in rounds) and a higher share of technically minded youth are meant to cut the average age of units.
- The plan sits beside existing technical entries, NCC special entries, and the need to keep a large standing army on a Himalayan and maritime frontier.
Defence-needs test
- Needs: younger profile, lower pension bulge, more tech-savvy soldiers, and a trained reserve after exit into civil life and lateral public jobs.
- Risks: four years may be short for unit cohesion and specialist trades; a 25 percent retention can thin institutional memory; civil absorption of leavers is still a policy promise.
- Border wars and counter-insurgency still need experienced NCOs; Agnipath must not starve that layer.
- Analysis: the plan can serve a younger, cheaper force if training intensity, retention of specialists, and post-tour jobs are real; it fails India’s needs if units become a revolving door.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD N[Defence manpower need] --> A[Agnipath 2022] A --> Y[Young 4-year Agniveer] A --> R[About 25 percent retain] A --> S[Seva Nidhi exit] Y --> F[Younger cheaper force] R --> F S --> C[Civil reserve jobs] G[Cohesion specialist NCO] --> F
Conclusion
Agnipath tries to match a young, affordable force to 21st-century defence needs. The analysis is mixed until retention of skilled Agniveers and civil absorption of the rest are proven in units, not only in the notification.
Quick related
Students also ask
-
What are the types of disasters? Elucidate its management in India.
Next question in the 2022 paper (Q10). View answer →
-
Do all Agniveers become regular soldiers?
No. Only about one-fourth are retained; the rest exit with Seva Nidhi.
-
Does a younger force automatically meet defence needs?
No. Specialist trades and NCO experience still need longer tenures and retention.
PYQ trend
When UPSC asked this
Related PYQs from other years, newest first. Open a question to read it.
-
2022 · Q3 · UPGS3 · 8 marks
Explain the pillars of PM Gati Shakti Yojana. Do you think that it will create competitiveness and better connectivity? Discuss. -
2022 · Q8 · UPGS3 · 8 marks
Examine the importance of ‘Defence Corridor Project’ being built in Uttar Pradesh. -
2022 · Q12 · UPGS3 · 12 marks
What is the role of skill development in a country's economic development? Highlight the objectives and main features of Uttar Pradesh Skill Development Mission, 2022. -
2022 · Q15 · UPGS3 · 12 marks
What are the factors responsible for comparative poor development of Eastern Uttar Pradesh? Discuss and also suggest solutions for development of this region. -
2022 · Q17 · UPGS3 · 12 marks
Discuss the issues related to Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and how their violation can be checked? -
2021 · Q1 · UPGS3 · 8 marks
Discuss the Digital India Programme of India. -
2021 · Q2 · UPGS3 · 8 marks
Examine the impact of globalization on employment of formal sector of India. -
2021 · Q4 · UPGS3 · 8 marks
What is Sustainable Development Goal–2030? Discuss the relevance of different agendas associated with it.
More from this paper
Q1 · UPSC Mains 2022 · UPGS3 · 8 marks
What do you understand by digital agriculture? Comment on its benefits.
Agriculture, irrigation and marketing
Digital agriculture uses data, sensors, satellites, and public IDs to farm and sell. AgriStack, Digital Agriculture Mission, NeGP-A, and e-NAM are the named rails. PM-KISAN DBT and insurance claims cut leakage when accounts exist. Advice and traceability help yield and export where lots and logistics run. The comment: tools help; incomplete land, power, and last mile cap the gain.
Q2 · UPSC Mains 2022 · UPGS3 · 8 marks
What is supply chain management? Highlight its importance in the context of food processing industry in India.
Food processing
Supply chain management coordinates farm lot, process, store, and delivery as one system. Food processing is perishable, so cold chain and contracts decide utilisation. PMKSY, PMFME, Operation Greens, and e-NAM are the named Union tools. FSSAI and APEDA lots need reefer and labs, not only a park notification. Without the chain, waste stays high and plants idle.
Q3 · UPSC Mains 2022 · UPGS3 · 8 marks
Explain the pillars of PM Gati Shakti Yojana. Do you think that it will create competitiveness and better connectivity? Discuss.
Economic planning and NITI Aayog
PM Gati Shakti is a 2021 National Master Plan GIS layer for multi-modal infrastructure. Six pillars: comprehensiveness, prioritization, optimization, synchronization, analytical, dynamic. Bharatmala, Sagarmala, DFCs, and NIP are the named build programmes it tries to align. Connectivity and competitiveness improve if last-mile rail, power, and clearances join the map. A GIS platform without execution does not cut logistics cost by itself.
Toppers' copies
Toppers' copies for this question will be uploaded soon.