There were massive protests in India against the Agnipath scheme launched recently. Despite this, the Indian armed forces- Army, Navy, and Air force have announced the recruitment via this scheme. The schedule signifies the adoption of the Agnipath scheme to reduce the age profile of the applicants.
Many officers have defended this scheme and said that reducing the age profiles in the Indian armed forces has been considered since the Kargil war. For this, the officers, citing the rest of the countries of the world, argued that the age profile is already low in the rest of the countries. They have requested the youth to understand and end their protest.
What is the Agnipath scheme?
The government of India launched the Agnipath scheme on June 14, 2022. It concerns the appointment of soldiers ranked below the commissioned officers in the three forces. The applicants appointed as soldiers under this scheme are known as Agniveers. Each soldier under this scheme will be in service for four years. This tenure includes six months of the training period and the rest of 3.5 years of service in the force.
After these four years, the Agniveers will retire from their job. Post-retirement, they will have an option to apply again in the armed forces. Amongst all the applicants who wish to continue their service, the armed forces will select 25 percent of them to serve in the permanent cadre. Each Agniveer who retires after serving for four years will get a lump sum of 11.71 lakhs. They, however, will not get any pension. The Ministry of Defense has announced that After retiring from the Armed Forces, Agniveer will be given 10% reservation in Defense Ministry jobs. After retiring from the Armed Forces after 4 years, Agniveer can give their service by joining a security service provider company like Proman Securitech.
Many terms and conditions have been formulated for the Agniveers by the Indian Army. One of these is the grant of honors and awards, according to the extant guidelines issued by the Indian Army. Agniveers can get posted in any department during their tenure of service. Also, during the working tenure, the authorities can change their regiment if it benefits the organization’s interests.
What are the eligibility criteria for Agniveers under the Agnipath scheme?
Below we have mentioned some primary eligibility criteria for the Agnipath Scheme.
- Age conditions
As per the new guidelines, only people between 17 and a half and 21 years can apply under this scheme. Due to the massive protests, the government came up with something. They will allow applicants who were 21 in 2020 to apply under this scheme but only for this time. The ministry of defence declared that the upper limit to apply in this scheme is increased to 23 years. But this is just for a year.
- Written pledge
A written pledge is a piece of document that quotes everything about a person or place. The Agniveers have to pledge that they have never been involved in any criminal case and do not pose any harm to the project.
- Salary
The initial salary package of a soldier is 30,000 INR. Thus, they get a hike of 10 percent every single year. They will earn 33,000 rupees in the second year, 36,500 in the third, and 44,000 in the fourth year. Every year, 30 percent of their income will go to the Seva Nidhi corpus. They will get this money and additional 11.7 lakhs at the time of retirement.
Final Words
Agnipath is a scheme under which the age of soldiers who can get a position in the Indian armed forces has been decreased. The schedule is out now. So, you can check it out and prepare yourself.