The "Agnipath" scheme is being seen as a major overhaul of the decades-old selection process to bring in fitter and younger troops to deal with future security challenges facing the nation.
Highlights
- The upper age limit for new recruits for the 'Agnipath scheme' has been extended from 21 to 23
- Govt decided that a one-time waiver shall be granted for the proposed recruitment cycle for 2022
- Centre on Tuesday unveiled ambitious scheme for recruitment of youth aged between 17 ½ - 21 years
Agnipath scheme: The upper age limit for new recruits for the 'Agnipath scheme' has been extended from 21 to 23 amid countrywide protests, said the Central government on Thursday.
In a notification, the government said, "Consequent to the commencement of the AGNIPATH scheme, the entry age for all new recruits in the Armed Forces has been fixed as 17 ½ - 21 years of age."
"The Government has decided that a one-time waiver shall be granted for the proposed recruitment cycle for 2022. Accordingly, the upper age limit for the recruitment process for the Agnipath scheme for 2022 is increased to 23 years."
The Centre on Tuesday unveiled the ambitious scheme for recruitment of the youth aged between 17 and a half and 21 in the Army, Navy and the Air Force, largely on a four-year short-term contractual basis. The youth recruited under the scheme will be known as 'Agniveers'. After the completion of the four-year tenure, 25 per cent of the recruits from each specific batch will be offered regular service.
The "Agnipath" scheme is being seen as a major overhaul of the decades-old selection process to bring in fitter and younger troops to deal with future security challenges facing the nation. The recruitment will be based on an "all-India, all-class" basis that is set to change the composition of some regiments that recruit youths from specific regions as well as castes.
The four-year tenure under the new scheme will include around six months to eight months of training periods. The recruitment will give a younger profile to the Army and they will also quickly adapt to new technologies, officials said.
However, experts believe that 10 lakh jobs are not enough to overcome the problem of unemployment in India. Still, BJP will have a point to answer on the issue of unemployment in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy said in its latest report that the number of employed in India jumped by over 10 lakh in May to over 40 crores, effecting a drop in the unemployment rate from 7.83 per cent in April to 7.12 per cent.
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