When the Agniveer scheme was introduced in 2022, it immediately raised questions both within the armed forces and among the public. India had always taken pride in maintaining a professional military recruited on an all-India basis, with soldiers assured of stable careers, pensions, and social security. The new scheme marked a sharp departure from that tradition. Under the earlier system, those recruited into the Army, Navy or Air Force served till retirement age and were entitled to pension benefits under the one-rank-one-pension framework. Their families, too, enjoyed a measure of security through family pension provisions. The Agniveer model altered this understanding fundamentally. The terms were made clear from the beginning. Agniveers would........

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