PLI & 5G Testbeds to prepare for better defence communication

Indian Army has been using one of its arms, the ‘Corps of Signals’ for handling military communications. For this, a robust & secure strategic infrastructure is needed to assist soldiers’ transformation into a potent, highly synergized and fully networked force. But the ambitious growth goals of the country need more pedigree in order to build a vast, multilayered and tech-sealed patrolling network. As India’s defence domain plans to take its capabilities to dizzying heights, it would now require unfailing support from other domains too, with Electronics and Telecom being one of the prime picks.

At present, many proactive measures are being taken to leverage both existing and emerging technologies to facilitate this seamless transition. The Rs.11,330 crore Network for Spectrum (NFS) was rolled out recently which aims at laying an alternate communication network for Defence Services for release of spectrum and boosting the communication capabilities in a major way leading to enhanced national operational preparedness. The project has forward linkages to other related industries such as telecom equipment manufacturing and other telecommunication related services as well. In another development, the Indian Army had collaborated with IIT Madras to establish a 5G Testbed at the Military College of Telecommunication Engineering (MCTE). The Test Bed will facilitate the Indian Army to utilise the 5G technology for its operational use, especially along its borders.

In this way, the defence sector is rightly experiencing a convergence with the telecom sector at the right time when India is exploring opportunities that technologies like 5G and schemes like PLI can present. The Department of Telecom (DoT) has launched an incentive scheme for design-led manufacturers and extended the PLI scheme for telecom by one year. The move is aimed at incentivising design-led manufacturing in the telecom sector, which comes days after India took its first step towards 5G rollout when the Union Cabinet approved a proposal to invite applications for 5G spectrum auctions.

This will also result in bolstering the Defence Startup ecosystem in the country as any latest technology, communication-based or otherwise, is like fuel for this heavy sector. In a bid to support Indian startups, the Defence Minister had also launched the sixth edition of the Defence Indian Startup Challenge (DISC) under the iDEX programme in April this year. Under this, the Defence ministry backs startups that can offer software solutions such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), advanced imaging, sensor systems, big data analytics, autonomous unmanned systems and secured communication systems to the Indian military. MoD also aims to support Indian startups by offering financial assistance in the range of INR 1.5 Cr to INR 10 Cr. under this challenge.

Defence Startup Culture in the country is also expected to flourish in few years time as India looks forward to having trained, poised and industry-ready Agniveers as supporting staff soon. One can also expect a lot of defence-related startups mushrooming 3-4 years from now across the country, taking the defence ecosystem to hit new heights. Prospects of achieving unprecedented success will be especially brighter for those Agniveers, who possess an interest and understanding of both defence and Technology.

March towards Youth Engagement and Leadership

While many raise doubts and questions regarding the professional prospects for Agniveers after 4 years of intense training, a very foundational aspect is being missed out to be taken into consideration. Armed forces are known for discipline, compassion and service more than anything else. Not surprisingly, all these three qualities are also being seen as the essential requirement in the booming entrepreneurship and startup culture of New India. Combine ground training in extreme weather conditions and difficult terrains to the idea, and India is ready with trained, poised and industry-ready youth that is both able and eager to fill the country’s economic potholes. This lot will not only possess leadership qualities but their sense of service and submission are some of the natural instincts that the country can certainly look forward to.

Even before the process of recruitment starts under the transformative ‘Agnipath scheme’, the offers of jobs are splurging for the ‘Agniveers’ from both government and private entities. With Anand Mahindra- the chairman of the business conglomerate Mahindra Group and Harsh Goenka of RPG group announcing their readiness to hire ‘Agniveers’, many more corporate companies are expected to come up with such offers. Profusely appreciating the ‘Agnipath scheme’ Sanjeev Bikhchandani, the founder of Naurki.com has also said that Agniveers will have a sense of service and commitment and after serving the army for four years, they can easily adapt into a number of career options.

The calls pouring in for the Agniveers are exhilarating. State governments like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh among others have promised to give them reservations in state police forces and others. Union Home Ministry has already announced that the in Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and Assam Rifles, Agniveers would be given priority. CAPFs include forces such as BSF, CISF, CRPF, ITBP, NSG and SSB. An announcement of 10% reservation in the Coast Guard, defence civilian posts and all the 16 defence public sector undertakings (DPSU) has already been made. Many other central ministries, PSUs & corporations have also pledged priority to Agniveers.

To support the ‘Agniveers’ on completion of their tenure, various public sector banks, public sector insurance firms and financial institutions have committed to explore employment opportunities for them in a meeting with Finance Ministry. Banks have also committed to explore the possibilities of supporting ‘Agniveers’ through suitable credit facilities for skill upgradation, education for setting up ventures and to instill the notion entrepreneurship. Importantly, the present government schemes like ‘MUDRA Yojana’, ‘Stand Up India’ scheme among others would also be leveraged to extend support to these soldiers. Besides, the Department of Telecom held a meeting with all the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) like Airtel, BSNL, Reliance Jio and Vodafone-Idea to discuss ways and means on how they can be utilized. During discussions, some areas like Optical Fibre Maintenance, Air Conditioning equipment, provision of infrastructure especially last mile connectivity, Fibre to Home (FTTH) and in customer interface areas, were identified in which engagement and employment of ‘Agniveers’ could be done. Youth affairs and sports ministry under Anurag Thakur has also announced that after 4 years of service, Agniveers would be considered for appointment as physical education teachers in schools.

Officials from the Armed forces and skill development and education ministries have already begun discussions on building a framework to enhance skills to be acquired by Agniveers. In the first round, they identified sectors like aviation, shipping, automotive, drone technology and management, armoured vehicles management, submarine related skilling courses during their four years of service itself. Ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship (MSDE) is going to collaborate with various wings of the armed forces to train the Agniveers in additional courses to offer them ‘Skill India Certificate’ while in service, enabling them to pursue diverse opportunities in entrepreneurship and job roles. All organizations related to ‘Skill India’ plan like Directorate General of Training, National Skill Development Corporation, various Sector Skills Councils, entrepreneurship institutes NIESBUD, IIE and skills regulators NCVET will be connected with this process of ensuring that Agniveers get the required certifications while in jobs.

Allaying the fears of fewer recruitments, Army vice-chief Lt-General B S Raju has said that Indian Army would progressively scale up the annual recruitment from 40,000 Agniveers this year to 1.2 lakh by the seventh or eighth year and then 1.6 lakh by the tenth or eleventh year under the Agnipath scheme. If apprehensions still exist, it is nothing but pure politics being played out by the vested interests, negatively fanning feelings of the youth.

Is Coaching really helpful?

Textbook definition of coaching is to get support in achieving a targeted personal or professional goal. More nuanced usage of this term is the process of giving a student extra teaching in a particular subject. Cultural moorings and history and current availability of types and competition for jobs in India have made coaching for few available jobs a booming industry in itself. A coaching culture of this kind in India is evidently growing every year, which seems to have been working inversely proportional to the vacancy figures being made available due to perverse incentives to tutors.

The problems of the students compound manifold as the promises and priorities of the majority of the coaching classes are misplaced since they hardly factor in the situations students face or are from. Their sole objective is to reap rich benefits by promising skies to the credulous parents and students. The fact also remains that there could be more than 100 times aspirants than the vacancies and all harbour the same dream of cracking a particular exam with all possible resources to their disposal, which without doubt create psychological, social and economic upheavals, resulting in violence and other ugly scenes in some parts of the country.

There is little denying the fact that a right kind of coaching proves helpful for especially the students coming from rural and semi-urban areas who are normally not aware or well-aware of the latest trends and practices of how to prepare for various exams. For example, a coaching is supposed to be giving them the right guidance, personalization of studies, new learning styles, tips for getting a competitive advantages, the proper utilization of time and routine, selection of subjects, getting to cover up specific chapters/subjects/topics among others. However the cons always overwhelm the pros. The cons also constitute additional expenditure on education by the poor middle class on coaching class which is rising rapidly, extra homework burden on students which causes physical and psychological stress to them and their families, focus on rote learning and curriculum being different from school academic structure among others.

The trend of having a parallel practice and guidance now seems to start right after a child completes his or her Kindergarten. The idea of having a coaching has become a trend today with parents too being unavailable for their part of impartations to children, and instead substituting it with coaching institutes. This has encouraged coaching institutes over last two decades to upgrade themselves with multiplied service packages, big promises with no guarantee, study material entrapment and tricky terms and conditions. This pressurises both types of students – those who take coachings, feel the pressure of clearing exams and the pressure increases manifold with more and more attempts and parents staring at them; and those who do not pursue coachings struggle with pressure of incompetence and fear of failure.

The situation can better be understood by the numbers of employees in central and state government services. The Union Budget for 2022-23 estimated the strength of central government employees at 34.65 lakh. If we add around 14 lakh armed forces, the number reaches to around 47 lakh employees. According to the report of the 7th Pay Commission, the total sanctioned strength of the central government was around 38.9 lakh in 2014. The central government employs around 8.5% of organised workforce with armed forces being the biggest employer. The military constitutes around 30% of the central workforce, followed by railways with around 28% share in central employees. Even among central government jobs the majority of government employees belong to group C with a share of 88.7%, followed by group B with 8.5% share and group A with just 2.8% of the share. While, state governments employ around one crore people. The average recruitment in the central government between 2006 and 2014, was a little over one lakh a year. But the number of youth preparing for government jobs both central and states, stands at several millions. The largest employer armed forces recruit around 60 thousands a year and each year, those knocking the job market stand at around 1.2 Crores. Solution to this is employment in stricter sense of being engaged in productive work, not necessarily a job. Agnipath is one marvellous program which is bound to transform the lives of the selected Agniveers, whether they continue in the job or step out and become an entrepreneur.

Strategic Evolution of Indian Armed Forces

Geography is important for Indian defence. Indian Peninsula is a distinct landmass with half its territory landlocked, major mountain ranges in the North, and the other southern half surrounded by 3 different oceans. Such a distinct, versatile and difficult geographic perimeter is guarded and patrolled by the Indian Armed Force, prime guardians of national integrity and sovereignty. From guarding the world’s highest battlefield in Siachen, to being posted in the extremely hot Thar and other desert regions in the west, to patrolling the politically sensitive Indo-China Border region and Bangladesh border region in the Eastern part, to guarding the never-ending stretch of the Indian Coastline, the Armed Forces patrol the entire length and breadth of the country even with unforgiving weather conditions beating down on them.

Indian armed forces evolved into a world class group of fighting forces since independence to meet the fast-increasing security, intelligence and strategic needs of the country. It requires to be noted that we had inherited a military that had been created, trained and equipped by the British regime to protect and consolidate their interests only. From a British led and man-power oriented force to truly techno-mechanised security personnel, we have seen revolutionary changes in past 75 years. These changes didn’t come in a day or two, but by fighting different threatres of war from western desert to Europe, to the forest of Burma and matching and exercising with the mightiest and most modernised troops of Europe, America, Israel and others. In between, Indian armed forces also fought several wars, which also proved to be the best training for both military and political establishments.

As per some estimates, presently at third position in military might in the world, it was hard for the Indian army to imagine that in the span of 75 years, a poverty-stricken, fragmented and deeply traumatised country would emerge as a military powerhouse. This transformation required continuous reforms of the processes as to how armed forces should operate keeping in view the fast changes in the global military practices. Certainly, the evolving global and regional strategic environments and perceptions have helped us grow much faster in last 8 years, however the increased focus spurred by the recognition of the needs and fast political decision makings have truly transformed the Indian army during these years. Changes gaining much momentum with a lot of thrust on self-sufficiency in terms of defence productions, are something, that can easily be seen. India’s growing military prowess has also resulted in a more robust and adventurist foreign policy in last few years.

The Indian military, Navy and Air Forces all are undergoing rapid expansion and transformation. Not only armed forces have grown like anything, but now, India has a robust air force with most modern fighter jets capable of playing both defensive and offensive roles, as have been seen in recent years and the strength of the navy is also rapidly growing with the fast acquisitions and developments of aircrafts carriers, submarines and a number of other world class navel assets.

Women participation and induction has also increased in the armed forces unprecedentedly. The number of women officers are almost tripled in about 6 years. Till recently, women were only part of ground duty in the Indian Army but now, women are flying aircraft in the Navy and Air Force, and now the Indian Army has also opened the way for women pilots by starting the ‘Army Aviation course’. in 2021, 83 women had been inducted as Jawans for the first time in the Indian Army. It is also heartening to note here that three women officers have been granted the rank of lieutenant general or equivalent.

Furthering the reform, for the first time, some kind of reservation has been devised for the armed forces with the Centre announcing a 10% reservation for ‘Agniveers’ along with a 3-year age relaxation above the upper age limit in the recruitment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and Assam Rifles under ‘Agnipath scheme’- an attractive and transformative defence recruitment scheme of the Government of India. Moreover, India is rapidly upgrading its defence capabilities with more than 93 military modernization projects worth more than 18.4 billion dollar currently in progress. That is something every Indian should be proud of.

Building Smart Machine and Men Indigenously

Internet was a US military invention which went on to change the way humans live. Defence sector across the developed as well as developing countries spends a lot on R&D as well as in purchase, manufacturing and maintenance of traditional as well as cutting edge equipment.

According to a report by SIPRI (as of 25 April, 2022), India stands as the third largest military spender in the world. India has been endorsing the idea of building a strong indigenous defence manufacturing capacity and seeking investments from both foreign and domestic companies alike in the sector. Both the developments hint towards the unprecedented churn in the Indian defence ecosystem, which is giving a much-needed impetus to India’s fast-evolving defence economy.

India is rapidly modernising its defence capabilities to keep the Armed Forces in a state of readiness. More than 93 military modernization projects worth around Rs 1.43 Lakh Crore are currently in progress. In recent years, India has taken several ground breaking steps like creating defence planning committee, introduction of Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020, Technology Development Fund scheme, appointment of CDS to bring in greater synergy with Ministry of Defence, long term modernization plan by factoring the emerging or futuristic security situations, Army Design bureau, reorganization of Army headquarters, setting up of defence corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, Military Technology Cooperation, increased foreign collborations, among others.

The ‘Make in India’ initiative for defence is also being carried out with 3 different treatments – Make I (90% government funded, with vendor), Make II (prototype development or upgradation of of equipment/system/platform, with zero government funding), and Make III (joining hands with foreign firms for production on Indian soil). Under the ‘Make in India’ program indigenous design, development and manufacture of defence equipments are being vigorously encouraged in the country, thereby reducing import of defence equipment.

The defence budget for the financial year 2022-23 is Rs 5,25,166 crore, an increase of Rs 46,970 crores or 9% over last year’s Rs 4,78,196 crore. As per the budget, Rs 1.52 lakh crore is being spent in capital expenditure, which relates to modernisation and infrastructure development of the Armed Forces only. Out of this 1.52 lakh crore, 68% of the amount is being spent on indigenous manufacturing to encourage investments and attract fresh capacity creation. An increase of more than 10% in back-to-back capital budgets expresses the continued push towards the modernisation of the armed forces. 25% of defence R&D budget is earmarked for private industries, startups and academia. Private industry is being encouraged to take up design and development of military platforms and equipment in collaboration with DRDO and other organizations through special purpose vehicle model.

Ease of doing business is helping indigenous defence production too. An independent nodal umbrella body created for meeting wide ranging testing and certification requirements of defence systems and platforms, is helping domestic industry through faster processes and cost-efficiency. Two positive indigenisation lists comprising 101 and 108 items were promulgated by Department of Military Affairs (DMA) under Ministry of Defence in recent months. In addition, to minimize import by DPSUs, Department of Defence Production has also notified a positive indigenisation list of things, in which 2500 items are already indigenized. Government is also considering adding more items for indigenous production. Timeline to add more items is reviewed continuously based on the requirements of Armed Forces as well as capability of domestic industry. Despite all these revolutionary efforts, India still needs to introduce many more reforms to rise to the fast changing security situations. Schemes like ‘Agnipath’ seem to be a product of the same restructuring thought.

Preparing Youth for the VUCA World we live in

Singapore, South Korea and Israel are some of the countries with policy to get male citizens to serve a period of compulsory service in the uniformed services. In Israel its mandatory for women too. Most of the young adults in these countries serve two to three years around the age of 18 as trainees. Apart from obvious benefits of military training, these youth have been observed to pick up the traits of Tenacity of Purpose in Performing Missions and Drive to Victory, Responsibility, Credibility, Professionalism, Discipline, Comradeship, and Sense of Mission. Any country with youth imbibed with such wonderful traits is better prepared for the VUCA world we live in, and are going to be successful against all odds, which we have seen in these countries.

While choosing between a government job that offers stability or a private job that opens avenues of opportunities, may still be a question haunting many young minds, one fact remains that now job security carries insignificant meaning as the enterprising young lot spends time and effort to explore career avenues with acquired substance in the form of money, experience, exposure and performance. Youth is engaging in highly competitive and rewarding work culture and atmosphere caring a little for post retirement benefits, as can be seen in the rising craze for startups, unicorns, innovations, sports etc.

Till now, the main advantages driving the youth from especially middle and lower economic strata of the society for the central government Jobs are- relatively good salary based upon the profile of the job and qualifications of the claimants, allowances, job and social security, insurance cover, leaves, vacations, housing benefits, health and other benefits. However, things have changed with scores of funding opportunities available.

Hence, ‘Agnipath’- an attractive and transformative defence recruitment scheme of the Government of India has been designed to give lakhs of youth of the country, not just one career avenue or chance but quite a few. Being an essential part of the future-ready soldier, they are set to stand out in crowd and after four years of service with their changed attitude, skills, discipline, sense of timing and responsibilities. The new system is sure to attract even those who want to stay with the armed forces only for a few years out of the love for the nation and then want to do something else of their choice with a different aptitude, attitude and perspective towards life, society and nation building. One can also expect a lot of defence-related startups mushrooming 3-4 years from now across the country, taking the defence ecosystem to hit new heights.

The new scheme envisions creating a youthful profile of the Armed forces with newer technologies with being able to use the whole range of weapons and communication devices used across the world by the most advanced armies of the world. Strengthening the very connect between society and the military does serve many a purpose and the government wants to bring the armed forces closer to the people in general. 75% of the Agniveers going to the society after serving 4 years in the army, will also take with themselves the ideals and ideas for the country and society, discipline, serving tendencies, physical, mental and emotional prowess that the armed forces stand for.

The definition of Employment is changing tones at a dynamic rate across the globe. Youth across the world has left the conventional way of finding a set-patterned occupation behind and is engaging in opportunities which are tech-oriented, varied and skill-based in a global setting where different sectors are both inter-mingled and unexplored. India is one of the countries where the pace of change is much higher because of regional, cultural and religious diversity. Unlike earlier, when only academic qualifications and government jobs occupied the center stage, now, major thrust is laid on certain essential skills like ambition, entrepreneurial mindset even in a job, willingness to continuously learn and evolve, soft-skills and communication, ability to listen and assert, confidence, perseverance and risk taking ability among others to succeed in both life and profession.

Poverty Alleviation gotten right this time

The former deputy Prime Minister Babu Jagjivan Ram’s famous speech on hunger and poverty alleviation still resounds in many minds. One can judge his thrust by his words, when in an interview with All India Radio, he had said-(translated) “Any government who reigns here, whether socialist, communist, capitalist, or authoritarian, should first ensure that no one sleeps without food, each person has at least a shirt and a pair of shoes, and only then work on other things and plans. Quoting Swami Vivekananda, he further said – for those starving, one who provides food becomes like a God and freedom carries no meaning. Hence, our first objective is to provide food to one and all, then only that person can be free.

Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) is one such welfare programme launched to alleviate the pain and sufferings caused by Covid-19 pandemic and to feed the country’s poorest citizens by providing grains through the PDS system. The government has spent Rs. 2.60 lakh crore so far and another Rs. 80,000 crore will be spent over the coming months till September 2022. According to a report by the dept. of Food and Public Distribution, the initiative stands out as the largest food assistance
program anywhere in the world during the pandemic in terms of the number of people covered, which is more than 10% of the world
population. Along with food assurance, financial benefits and healthcare expenditure are also being taken care of by the government, and continuous efforts are leading to positive results as far as poverty-reduction is concerned.

Financial inclusion plan like Jan Dhan, accidental insurance at the premium of Re. 1 per month and life insurance also at the same premium providing a cover of Rs. 2 lakh have proved vital. Over 12 crore people have been enrolled under PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana- the life insurance scheme and over 28 crore people have been enrolled under PM Suraksha Bima Yojana- the accident insurance scheme. Ayushman Bharat provides health cover of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year to about 18 crore families. So far, over 3 crore treatments under this scheme have saved over Rs. 37,600 crore for the poor. The Jan Aushadhi scheme further helps the poor when it comes to bearing the cost of medicines. With a network of over 8,700 stores across the country, under the Jan Aushadhi Scheme, medicines are sold at 50-90% lesser than market prices, saving over Rs. 10,000 crore for the people since 2019.

Due to many inter-connected new steps & initiatives, India has seen a sharp decline in extreme poverty in recent years, prompting even the top multilateral organizations like World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) appreciating India’s efforts towards reducing extreme poverty. A World Bank working paper has extolled the efforts of the Government of India with regard to extreme poverty in both rural and urban areas. The paper says that extreme poverty fell by 12.3% points to 10.2% in 2019, from 22.5% in 2011. According to the same paper, extreme poverty in rural areas dropped by 14.7% points, while in urban areas it fell by 7.9% points. Whereas, IMF’s paper says- PM Narendra Modi’s food security scheme proved crucial in keeping the extreme poverty levels checked in India even during the Covid-19 outbreak.

The IMF working paper furthers- the proportion of people living in extreme poverty, which is at less than 1%, did not go up despite the excruciating Covid-19 pandemic, attributing this achievement of the Government of India to free food grains provided under PM Modi’s Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana during pandemic. The paper says, a government which is serious about poverty alleviation, must do two things- first, a programme should be in place to ensure that the poor are lifted out of poverty and second – providing a social security net that protects the poor from falling back into poverty. Interestingly, both these factors are well taken care of in India’s current poverty alleviation approach.

Agnipath: Securing the Saviours

Geography is important for Indian defence. Indian Peninsula is a distinct landmass. The country lays beautifully divided by the Tropic of Cancer in almost two equal halves with one part land-locked and embroidered with some of the greatest mountain ranges of the World, while the other lies submerged in water surrounded by 3 different oceans. As India rises as one of the promising Asian Superpowers and one among global leaders at large, having a strong defence ecosystem occupies a center-stage in terms of peace, security and geopolitics. India’s massive efforts to bolster its defence manufacturing capabilities, increase defence acquirements, enhanced patrolling, radar and exercises, changes in defence training and recruitments, encouragement to domestic defence manufacturers, allocation of increased defence funds, etc. are all for the bigger picture and future readiness.

Implementation of ‘Agnipath’- an attractive and transformative defence recruitment scheme of the Government of India, may prove to be a game changer for the Indian defence system. Now, soldiers recruited in the defence forces under this recruitment policy, will be termed as ‘Agniveers’ – a distinct rank in the Armed Forces, different from any other existing ranks. Under the new scheme, government is trying to create a youthful profile of the Armed forces. This way the newly recruited youth would be better able to be trained with newer technologies, which has enough prospects to transform the armed forces into youthful, techno- savvy and modern because even an infantry soldier now needs to be technologically advanced to use the whole range of weapons and communication devices. The scheme envisages to reduce the average age profile of Indian Armed forces by about 4-5 years.

‘Agniveer’ is going to be a part of the future-ready soldier and after 4 years of service, they will stand out in crowd with their attitude, skills, discipline and sense of timing and responsibilities. Under the new system, those wishing to work in the army for only a few years, can do so with a different aptitude and attitude towards life, society and nation building. Now aspirants between the ages of 17.5 years and 21 years will be eligible to apply and the recruitment standards will remain the same, with recruitment rallies to be organised twice a year. This scheme is set to give a better opportunity to the youth who choose to serve the nation as their full time job.

One of the reasons behind this revolutionary move may be an attempt to reduce the growing pension payout. But strengthening the connection between society and the military and instilling nationalism among the youth by providing an opportunity to fulfill their aspiration of serving in the Armed Forces, is of much more significance. Further, Agniveers will be given an attractive customised monthly package along with ‘Risk and Hardship’ allowances as applicable in the three services. After completion of the engagement period of 4 years, Agniveers will be accorded with the one time ‘SevaNidhi’ package.

Agniveers, selected for enrolment in the Indian Armed Forces as regular cadre, would be required to serve for the engagement period of minimum 15 years and he/she will be governed by the existing terms and conditions of service of Junior Commissioned Officers/other ranks in Indian Army and their equivalent in Indian Navy and Indian Air Force and that of Non Combatant enrolled in the Indian Air Force. 46,000 Agniveers are likely to be recruited under the first phase of recruitment.

Once selected, the aspirants will go through training for six months and then they will be deployed for three and a half years. During this period, they will be provided an attractive monthly package of Rs 30,000 per month with upgradation upto Rs 40,000 per month in 4th year. Importantly, during this period, 30% of their salary will be set aside under a ‘Seva Nidhi’ programme, and the government will contribute an equal amount every month along with providing accrue interest. At the end of the four-year period, Agniveer will be accorded Rs 11.71 lakh as a lump sum amount, which will be tax-free. Additionally, they will also get a Rs 48 lakh life insurance cover for the four years.

Sporting New Attitude towards Sports

India’s relatively better performance at the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics showcased that sports in India is no longer dominated by Cricket alone. Seven medals in the Olympics and 19 in Paralympics demonstrate amply that there is a lot of potential for other sports in the nation. Government support and schemes like TOPS have ensured that the nation can achieve new heights. These successes seem to have ushered in new and big development in the Indian Games and sports Arena.

Playing any sport at the highest level becomes very expensive, requiring a sense of financial security to perform at the peak. Hence, youngsters from the middle class and the poor strata of the society, who constitute majority of the youth, were earlier found to be averse to sports as parents too often discouraged them from professionally pursuing sports. Hence, financial assistance is a major part of the sports promotion programmes, under which Rs. 6.28 lakh is allocated for each residential athlete training at the accredited academies as per the annual Khelo India scholarship scheme. It includes an out of the pocket allowance of Rs 1.20 lakh. The government is setting up 1,000 Khelo India centres, which will further give a big boost to sports.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has brought a crucial mindset change and introduced numerous policies that have allowed innumerable youngsters to fulfill their dream of pursuing sports as a career. In Tokyo Olympics, 2020, India won 7 Medals total, 1 Gold, 2 Silver and 4 Bronze medals, registering the best ever performance at the Olympics. In Paralympics too, India won a record 19 medals with 5 Gold, 8 Silver and 6 Bronze medals. The number of medals won in this edition of the Paralympics is higher than India’s medals in all previous editions put together. Further, at the recently concluded Thomas Cup, the Indian Men’s Badminton team defeated 14-time title holder Indonesia to lift the winning trophy. PM Modi’s heartwarming interaction with the champions of the sports person also enthuse them a lot, showing India’s sports profile rising consistently across different sports, which is not merely a coincidence.

For the TOPS programme (Target Olympic Podium Scheme) the government specifically aims to identify athletes with great potential and enable customised and high-quality training and facilities for them, so that their focus remains on excellence in the arena rather than on fighting to get facilities unlike earlier. Under the scheme, the government takes full responsibility for foreign training of athletes, which includes their lodging, nutrition, equipment and international competitions in foreign countries besides a monthly stipend of Rs. 50,000 for each athlete.

Khelo India programme has been a huge success when it comes to harnessing the untapped potential of scores of youth especially from the rural and semi-urban areas. The programme comprises a clutch of schemes that form an important initiative to encourage sportspersons right from the grassroots. It aims at infusing sports culture and achieving sporting excellence. The Khelo India programme includes playfield development, community coaching development, promotion of community sports, the establishment of a strong sports competition structure at both school and university levels and filling up critical gaps in sports infrastructure including the creation of hubs of sports excellence in universities.

As India pulls its socks by way of providing sports infrastructure at the grassroots level to help athletes to become professional, seeds are sown seeds of a bright sports future for the country. The post-COVID world, where health and fitness is getting prioritised above everything, sports and games too are set to achieve record highs and new pursuers across the globe like never before. A strong preparation and setting up world-class infrastructure to cater to future sports stars becomes all relevant in such times.

India has made extensive efforts in recent years to transform the creative energy of the youth in the country, which have also resulted in grabbing gold in international sports and a well noticeable shift in the career preference of the youth and priorities of the parents. Plans like Khelo India scheme, TOPS, assistance to National Sports Federations, special awards to winners in international sports events and their coaches, national sports awards, pension to meritorious sports persons, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay National Sports Welfare Fund, National Sports Development Fund and running sports training centres through Sports Authority of India are fast changing the sports scenario.

Preserving languages – use it or lose it

Extinction of a Language is not merely phrases and letters lost in the mists of time, but a form of cultural suicide as with a language gone, mankind loses out on great skills, learnings, wisdom, ideas, innovations, artistry, and first-hand ancestral experiences and inventions. In a remarkable development, the United Nations General Assembly has adopted a resolution on multilingualism. The resolution promoted the UN’s Department of Global Communications to use both official and non-official languages, including Bangla, Hindi, and Urdu, in its communications.

This could become a reality given India’s efforts since 2018 to get these languages to have a stature that they deserve, putting special focus on the use of Hindi at the United Nations. “Hindi @ UN’ project was launched in 2018 with an objective to enhance the public outreach of the United Nations in the Hindi language, and to spread greater awareness about global issues among millions of Hindi-speaking populations around the world,” said India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador TS Tirumurti.

Language is the most potent and important invention of ingenious mankind. Languages are the tool to code the stories of human endeavours evolving over edges and are the best source of scientific and practical knowledge, wisdom, values and awareness of surroundings. The diversity of languages around the globe beautifully signify the versatility, uniqueness and robustness of human societies. India is blessed with a heritage which nurtures diversity and its languages.

Diversity is what defines nature and human diversity leads to more holistic growth. Even same kind of crops, if planted on the same land over and over again, makes the land unfit for agriculture and nonnutritive. Connected with the world by three oceans and more through the passes of mountains, the Indian Peninsula has welcomed foreign establishments, cultures, rules, leaders and faiths, adding more to India’s diverse heritage and cultural wealth. India is a kaleidoscope of umpteen varieties of cultures, food, traditions, artistry, religious beliefs and languages, products of the long history and unique geography of this land. Such a distinctive mix makes India’s diversity unparallelled in the world. Over the millenniums, the laws of diversity have permeated into the very core of the nature of the Indian subcontinent.

Today, more than 19,500 languages or dialects (analysis of a census released in 2018) that are spoken in India as mother tongues, help it to think and act for all, strategically, economically, socially, geo-politically and spiritually. This official addition of Hindi and Bengali at UN also makes perfect sense in a world where after Mandarin, Spanish & English, Hindi stands at the 4th-most widely spoken language globally (~4.429% of World pop.) followed by Bengali which ranks 5 in the list (~4.00% of World pop.). Also, for now, a UN News-Hindi audio bulletin (UN Radio) has also begun to be released every week.

The key to keeping languages alive is either through practice, or preservation or both. While Digital recording and incorporation of many local languages across the world are helping to preserve lingual remains, manual revisiting can also lead to revival of these languages which can be done through speaking, using it as medium of education, encouraging and promoting more and more of literature work and Media Content in these languages, etc. Hyperlocal Journalism through digital means can greatly result in quick upturn.