Responding to a report in The Indian Express which stated that the conference of Army Commanders in Jaisalmer was set to discuss a proposal on raising the Agniveer retention rate from 25 per cent to 75 per cent, a spokesperson for the Indian Army said Thursday that the report was “absolutely incorrect” and the “agendas and issues mentioned” for discussion at the conference “do not correspond to the actual agenda of deliberations”.
Army PRO Colonel Nishant Arvind said: “The Army Commanders’ Conference is a closed-door institutional forum where classified and sensitive matters related to national security and operational preparedness are deliberated upon at the highest level.”
“It is reiterated that no discussions on most of the issues mentioned in the article including increase in retention percentage of Agniveers have been scheduled or circulated as part of the official agenda,” the spokesperson said.
The report had stated that a proposal to raise the Agniveer retention rate from the current 25 per cent to up to 75 per cent, along with measures to enhance jointness among the three services and review the implementation of Mission Sudarshan Chakra, were likely to be among the key issues on the agenda at the conference in Jaisalmer.
Earlier, on August 14, The Indian Express had reported that the Armed Forces were discussing a reassessment of the Agnipath scheme, keeping in mind the requirement for an ideal ratio between technically proficient and trained manpower and a reduced age profile of soldiers in the military.
This is the first Army Commanders’ Conference since Operation Sindoor in May. The conference serves as a platform for the Army’s senior leadership to review the overall security situation and deliberate on key operational priorities to address emerging challenges.
