Agnipath scheme: Govt extends age limit to 23 from 21 for this year's batch only
2 min read 17 Jun 2022, 05:47 AM ISTAgnipath scheme: Earlier on Tuesday, during the launch of the Agnipath scheme, the Centre had said youngsters between the of 17-and-a-half and 21 years would be inducted for a four-year tenure in the Indian Army/Indian Air Force/Indian Navy
PremiumAmid protest against the new model for recruitment of soldiers into three armed services, the Centre has decided to increase the upper age limit for recruitment under the "Agnipath" scheme to 23 years from 21 years for the year 2022.
Earlier on Tuesday, during the launch of the Agnipath scheme, the Centre had said youngsters between the of 17-and-a-half and 21 years would be inducted for a four-year tenure in the Indian Army/Indian Air Force/Indian Navy.
However, as per the latest order by the Defence Minister, the age limit for recruitment has now been raised to 23 for the 2022 batch only.
"Cognisant of the fact that it has not been possible to undertake the recruitment during the last two years, 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," according to a statement issued by the defence ministry.
The Agnipath scheme has received a huge backlash from a significant number of military experts, saying it will adversely impact the functioning of the armed forces.
Besides, youngsters in several states including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Jharkhand also protested against the recruitment model into three armed forces.
The Central government believes that the Agnipath scheme is a major overhaul of the decades-old selection process to enhance the youthful profile of the three services. Besides, the three service chiefs have also strongly backed the scheme and said it was unveiled after over two years of deliberations.
After the scheme was rolled out, the Army said it would ensure an enhanced youthful profile of the force and result in a "reduction in the average age from 32 to 26 years over a period of time".
About the Agnipath scheme:
- Under this scheme, a newly recruit soldier will be able to service the country for only for years.
- The four-year tenure under the new scheme will include a training period of around two-and-a-half months to six months.
- The recruits will be provided a non-contributory life insurance cover of ₹48 lakh for the duration of their engagement period in the armed forces.
- The monthly salary of an "Agniveer" in the first year of employment would be ₹30,000 and the in-hand amount would be ₹21,000 as ₹9,000 would go to a corpus with an equal contribution from the government.
- Subsequently, the monthly salary in the second, third and fourth years will be ₹33,000, ₹36,500, and ₹40,000.
- Each "Agniveer" will get an amount of ₹11.71 lakh as the "Seva Nidhi Package" and it will be exempted from income tax.
- The scheme is also expected to cut the ballooning salary and pension bills of the armed forces as there will be no entitlement to gratuity and pensionary benefits.
- The recruitment process under the Agnipath scheme would start in 90 days.
