The Indian Army is transitioning to a new recruitment model called Agnipath, and a retired Army officer’s venture, Agniveer, is providing hope for the re-employment of thousands of former soldiers. A book chronicling the Army veteran’s journey of starting the company was recently released, guiding former soldiers on successful adaptation to civilian life after retiring.
Brisk Olive, a company that provides training and job opportunities for former defence personnel, originated from an encounter in 2007 between Col Sunil Prem (Retd), a 30-year Army veteran, and an ex-soldier from his regiment. Moved by the sight of the ex-soldier working as a security guard at a bank, Col Prem was inspired to take action for the resettlement of soldiers.
Founded in 2019, Brisk Olive has assisted nearly 30,000 former servicemen from the Army, Navy, and Air Force through training and job opportunities under Col Prem’s leadership. The firm generates revenue by offering project execution services to corporations such as TCS iON, Aptech, Mahendra Tech, Ambuja, and Hinduja.
“We pick up contracts from companies and get them executed through our contractual field force of ex-soldiers. We do not directly provide manpower to our clients, so we are not a staffing agency,” Col Prem said. “Project management is a major part of our contracts with our end clients,” he added.
Col Prem has documented the journey of starting Brisk Olive in his book “Soldier 2.0: 19 Steps to a Soldier’s Dream Second Life,” released last month in Hindi. Army Chief General Manoj Pande has written the foreword for the book, emphasizing the importance of resettling former soldiers as a social responsibility for the nation.
Col Prem highlighted the resettlement of ex-soldiers as a significant problem, with over 24 lakh ex-soldiers from the three services in India. He emphasized the valuable skills and training that soldiers acquire during their service and the need for continued earning after retirement.
Soldiers retire at early ages, mostly between 35 and 54 years, and still have many responsibilities, making the need for continued earning crucial, according to Col Prem.
Amrita Nayak Dutta writes on defence and national security.
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