Though discovered and postulated as a physical law by Sir Isaac Newton in 1687, opposition to change is a law of nature that extends to human thinking too. The dilemma of handling powerful emotions associated with change has aptly been described by the following lines written by eminent American poet Robert Frost-“Ah, when to the heart of man/ Was it ever less than a treason/ To go with the drift of things/ To yield with a grace to reason.”

Having been subjected to unprovoked aggression by both its Eastern and Western neighbours, imperatives of ensuring territorial integrity makes maintaining a credible deterrent capability in the form of strong defence forces an inescapable requirement for India. However, maintaining a large standing defence force has its own problems, both at the national and service headquarters levels.

To ensure optimum operational efficiency, defence forces require maintaining a young age profile and this means that its rank and file superannuate early. At the same time, there’s also a need to reduce burden on the national exchequer and defence budget by lowering the pension bill so that requisite funds are available for government projects as well as capability enhancement and modernisation of the weapon and warlike equipment inventories.

To address both these issues, the Government of India has introduced the Agnipath recruitment system. Under this scheme, the selected Agniveers will, after undergoing a somewhat abridged training regimen, serve for........

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