The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: Reports of the alleged death by suicide of an air force Agniveer in Agra earlier this week bring the number of Agniveers who have died since last year to around 20, the New Indian Express reported.
Sources told the newspaper that around 18 Agniveers in the army have died and that the Agniveer’s death in Agra is a first for the air force.
According to the Times of India, 22-year-old Agniveer Shrikant Choudhary shot himself dead with his service rifle at an air force facility in Agra on Tuesday (July 2). Local police did not find a suicide note and said it is unknown why Choudhary took the extreme step.
Its report added that the air force launched an inquiry to determine the circumstances behind Choudhary’s death.
According to some reports, the first Agniveer death was of a man who also shot himself dead. As per protocol, he was not given a military funeral because his death was a suicide.
Under the Agnipath scheme, which was announced in 2022, applicants aged between 17.5 and 21 years are recruited to the army, navy and air force on a four-year contract, at the end of which around a quarter are retained in the forces. The others retire without a pension.
The government said Agnipath would benefit the military by increasing the share of young soldiers in it, and analysts have said it was aimed at allowing the government to spend less on pensions and salaries, which have consumed more than half the defence budget.
But it has been a source of concern for some, including young people who looked to military service for job security and for its benefits, such as pensions and access to canteens after retirement, which rejected Agniveers are not entitled to.
Earlier this week, Lok Sabha opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and defence minister Rajnath Singh debated the former’s allegations that an Agniveer who was killed on duty in a landmine blast in Jammu and Kashmir did not receive government compensation.
While Singh that families of Agniveers killed on duty are given Rs 1 crore in financial assistance, Gandhi posted a video of the Agniveer’s father saying they had not received money from the Union government. The army subsequently said it had already paid his family Rs 98 lakh.
However, commentators (as well as Gandhi) have said the money paid to the Agniveer’s family is the insurance he was entitled to and not official compensation.
Other concerns around Agnipath are that it may negatively impact the armed forces’ readiness for combat and that it may create law and order problems if disillusioned Agniveers with military training turn to crime.