A week has passed by since the "Agnipath" or Path of Fire initiative was announced for applicants aged 17.5 to 21.  Each year, between 45,000 and 50,000 troops will be recruited, with the majority of them leaving the military after just four years, with only 25% of them being retained after that.

Amid the ongoing protests against the scheme, the Indian Air Force issued its notification, stating that registration will start from June 24. 

Is it acknowledged that things might have been conveyed and people could have been engaged better given the violent protests that erupted following the announcement? And whether this is the best course of action? Should the government have been more explicit about its long-term goals? Why wasn't it implemented as a pilot programme?

Our host Dev Goswami and "Def-Savvy" Abhishek Bhalla, national bureau chief, discuss in this episode of In Our Defence.

Listen up!

Produced by Anna Priyadarshini
Sound mix by Kapil Dev Singh