Gwalior: Not many people are aware that Chambal, known for its ravines, rebels and guns, has another identity.
Arms are not taken up only by rebels or dacoits for rebellion in this region, but a large number of youth from the area have long been serving in the Indian army and guarding the country. Countless houses across villages in the region have produced soldiers, and there is a long list of martyrs, too.
Data collected by the government of former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan showed that about 45% of Madhya Pradesh’s martyred soldiers were from the Bhind and Morena districts. If the neighbouring Gwalior district is included, the figure is even higher.
Suraj, who offers physical training to youth for joining the army, police and paramilitary forces at the SF Ground in Gwalior, said: “There was a time when the number of forms for army recruitment filled in these three districts (Bhind, Morena and Gwalior) alone equalled those filled in all the districts of Madhya Pradesh combined.”
But ever since the Agnipath scheme was launched, the situation has changed.
Chambal’s youth are becoming disillusioned with the army. According to Manu Sikarwar, a resident of Kailaras tehsil of Morena district, “it is a matter of pride to be martyred for the country, but if we are martyred, our family will neither get pension benefits nor other benefits that a regular army soldier gets.
“I have my family to sustain. In case I die, they should at least have enough so that they do not have to worry for the rest of their lives.”
Till two years ago, 20-year-old Manu wanted to join the army and was preparing for it with all his heart. But the Agnipath scheme nipped his dreams in the bud.
“Due to the Agnipath scheme, I had to give up my dream of joining the army because there is no future there. Coming back after four years, I would have to look for some other work, struggle in a new direction and search for a job.”
Manu is not the only one. Many of his friends also aspired to join the army, but all of them are now looking for other jobs.
Also read: Passions Run Dry in India’s ‘Army Villages’ Since the Launch of Agnipath Scheme
Though Manu is preparing for competitive exams in Delhi, he says that his first choice is still the army because his father is also a soldier.
Many officers argue that one cannot look at the army as an employment guarantee scheme. The army recruits according to its needs, and the country should understand that the Agniveer scheme will help in modernising the army and strengthening its organisation.
But another aspect is that in many parts of the country, the army is a tradition, a passion and an essential means to have an honourable life. With one blow, the Agnipath scheme has ended this culture.
There has been a long tradition of joining the army in the Chambal region. Bhanu Jadoun’s grandfather, who lives in Morena city, and his maternal uncle have both served in the army.
Bhanu has now crossed the age limit to become an Agniveer, but he was eligible when the scheme was implemented.
He had passed the physical efficiency test for the army before the COVID-19 pandemic, but due to the lockdown, the rest of the process got delayed and then the Agnipath scheme arrived.
During the first year of the scheme, he was offered a relaxation of two years in age, but he chose not to become an Agniveer.
“I had seen army culture in my family since my childhood, so I had a passion to join it,” said Bhanu.
“But due to the limitation of four years in the job, I lost interest and did not appear for the exam. There are many boys like me who have lost interest in the army because of the Agnipath scheme.”
Bhanu has now become a collection agent in a private company.
The Wire reached the Qazi Basai village, located about 30 kilometres away from the Morena district headquarters. This village, with a population of about 5,000, is 80% to 90% Muslim.
People in the village have been joining the army since the time of the First World War.
Former village sarpanch Haji Mohammad Rafiq, who retired after serving in the Border Security Force (BSF) for 36 years, said that till now, about 3,000 to 3,500 people from his village have been part of various security forces and that seven people have been martyred.
Many families have been serving in the security forces for five generations, he said, adding that currently, more than 350 people from the village are serving in the Indian army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), BSF and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
L: Panchayat building of the Qazi Basai village. R: Former sarpanch Haji Mohammad Rafiq. Photo: Deepak Goswami/The Wire.
Regarding the Agnipath scheme, the villagers said: “It is absolutely nonsensical to become an Agniveer. One will not even get the status of a martyr in it.”
There is a provision of ex-gratia and insurance for Agniveers in case of death on duty, but they have been deprived of pensions like regular soldiers as well as other facilities given to the families of martyrs.
Apart from this, under the scheme, after the completion of four years of service, the Agniveer will not even be considered an ‘ex-serviceman’.
According to the villagers, four to five boys from the village were recruited to the army in every round of enlistment.
During the last recruitment that took place after the scheme was launched, it was for the first time that no one from the village was selected.
Wasif Mohammad had participated in an army recruitment rally before the Agnipath scheme arrived. But as soon as the scheme was launched, he gave up the idea of joining the army.
“Hardly any boy from the village is interested in becoming an Agniveer,” he said.
“Firstly, one becomes an Agniveer. Then one works hard to become permanent and if one does not get a permanent appointment, one tries for other recruitments. It is better to work hard for some other permanent job instead.”
Former sarpanch Haji Mohammad highlights the grim side of the picture. “Boys who were preparing for the army have now opened grocery shops or are working as blacksmiths or carpenters.”
Wasif has opened a grocery shop and one of his peers, Mosaid Abbasi, has started working as a carpenter.
A village named Tarsma in Morena’s Porena tehsil has offered 17 martyrs to the country till now. There are about 400 houses and five martyr sites in the village. According to sarpanch Satyabhan Tomar, “There are two to three soldiers in every house. In some houses, there are five men and all of them are soldiers.”
Tomar said that there is no enthusiasm for ‘Agniveer’ in his village as well.
Ramnarayan Sikarwar, who runs a physical training centre for recruitment in the security forces in the Kailaras tehsil of Morena district, said: “Army jobs are given more priority in our area because most children here are less educated but are physically strong.
“When the army tenure has been limited to only four years, they are forced to look for work elsewhere.”
Elderly residents of the village – Navi Mohammad, Ata Mohammad and Hasir Mohammad – busy in discussion at Wasif’s grocery shop, told The Wire: “There is no other work to do here.”
“Apart from the army, the boys had nothing else on their mind. Now the government has reduced the service period to four years. So they will have to comply, otherwise they will be forced to do hard labour.”
After ‘Agnipath’, the number of candidates preparing for physical exams dipped
After retiring from the army, Uday Bhadoria has been running a physical training centre in Gwalior’s Bhind Road for the last seven years, where preparation for physical exams for the army, police, National Defence Academy (NDA) and paramilitary forces is carried out.
“Before the Agnipath scheme, students from all over the country used to come to my centre to prepare for enrolment in the army. But now, the scope has been limited to only candidates from Bhind, Morena, Gwalior, Guna, Shivpuri, Datia and Dholpur,” said Bhadoria.
According to him, the number of children arriving to prepare for the army has reduced by almost half.
The number of men in the Agniveer batch in his training centre has also dipped to a very low level.
Uday Bhadoria (right) and the Agniveer aspirants from his training centre. Photo: Deepak Goswami/The Wire.
Suraj, a trainer at another training centre running in the city’s SF Ground, said: “85% of the boys have turned away from the army. Earlier, there used to be 100 to 200 aspirants in my army batch; today, there are only ten to 15 of them.”
A similar situation is seen in the training centres located in Morena’s Jaura and Kailaras, as well as Ambah in Bhind.
Giriraj Singh Bains, who runs the Karah Sarkar Physical Academy in Jaura, said that about 1,000 boys from Jaura used to prepare for the army earlier. Today, the number has come down to between 100 and 200.
Meanwhile, the number of candidates currently enrolled in his academy is between 300 and 400, of which about 100 are training to be Agniveers.
According to Bains, before the scheme was announced, batches of students training for the army used to be the most numerous.
At another centre run by Arif Pathan in Kailaras, there used to be 40 to 50 children in the army batch. But now there are only five boys in the current Agniveer batch.
Note that the maximum age limit for recruitment in the NDA, ITBP, CRPF and BSF is between 19 and 23 years, while the age of recruitment for Agniveers is fixed at 17.5 to 21 years.
As such, when an ‘Agniveer’ retires from the army aged anywhere between 21.5 and 25 years old, he will lose eligibility for the examinations for the other institutions and forces.
Before the introduction of the Agniveer scheme, the total number of youth joining the army from Madhya Pradesh in the three years between 2017-18 and 2019-20 was 7,025.
According to data presented in parliament, 2,352 youth from the state joined the army in 2017-18; 1,570 in 2018-19 and 3,103 in 2019-20.
The Wire contacted the army recruitment office in Gwalior to find out the number of youth recruited in the army under the Agnipath scheme from Bhind, Morena and Gwalior districts in the last two years, but the office did not provide any information in this regard.
The army recruitment office in Gwalior, where despite contacting them, numbers related to the recruitment of Agniveers could not be obtained. Photo: Deepak Goswami/The Wire.
No employment and no family after four years
The Agnipath scheme requires Agniveers to be unmarried. There is a clause in the scheme:
“Only unmarried candidates are eligible for enrolment as Agniveers. They will not be permitted to marry during their entire tenure of four years. Agniveers may be dismissed from service if they marry during their tenure.
In addition, only unmarried Agniveers are eligible for re-recruitment/enrolment for the post of sepoy or equivalent in the regular cadre.”
But in Chambal, especially in the rural areas of Gwalior and Bhind-Morena, marriages take place at a young age. Wedding preparations begin as soon as a uniform is issued.
“Here, a 25-year-old boy is considered old,” said Giriraj. “Parents think that the boy should pass the 10th or 12th grade and get married as soon as he joins the army.”
Agniveers may not be allowed to get married, but they can get engaged. However, due to the temporary nature of the job, it is not easy to find a match.
“In two years, no Agniveer has found a match in Morena,” said Giriraj. “I get calls from the girl’s family asking for anyone in the army but who is not an Agniveer.”
“People get married at the age of 20 to 21 here,” said Arif Pathan.
“Many married people enrol in my centre to prepare for other recruitments, some even have children. Now, there is also a fear that no one will marry a 25-year-old retired ‘unemployed’ Agniveer. He will have to face the double whammy of losing his job and remaining unmarried.”
Translated from the Hindi original by Naushin Rehman.
