Armed forces unveil 'Agnipath' recruitment scheme: Now, youngsters can join forces for 4 years, become 'agniveers'

Under the new scheme, about 45,000 people between the age of 17.5 years and 21 years will be inducted into the services and will serve for four years

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday unveiled a transformative policy to recruit thousands of young men - and a few hundred women at a later date – as soldiers in the army, air force and navy for a period of four years, at the end of which 25% of the youth would be absorbed as regular troops while the rest will be released for a civilian career along with monetary compensation of nearly Rs 12 lakh.

The aim of the policy – released here in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and the three Service Chiefs – would be to lower the age profile of the troops by six years and cut down India’s burgeoning military pension bill, which currently is more than one-fifth of the defence budget.

Under the new scheme called Agnipath, as many as 46,000 soldiers, aged between 17.5-21 years would be recruited in the first year. The recruitment will begin within the next 90 days and the first batch of Agniveers will be ready by July 2023 after a six-month training.

“The Cabinet Committee on Security has taken a historic decision to approve the transformative scheme of Agnipath. Under the scheme, efforts are to create a youthful profile of the armed forces. It would help to train them for new technologies and improve their health levels,” said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

Agniveers who would form a distinct rank, would be offered an opportunity to apply for permanent enrolment after four years and up to 25% of each specific batch of Agniveers would be enrolled in a regular cadre, the government said in a statement.

As of July 2019, there was a shortage of more than 38,000 troops in the Indian Army, nearly 17,000 sailors in the Indian Navy and around 14,000 men in the IAF. The shortage has increased in the last two years as the services were unable to conduct most of their recruitment rallies due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The average age of a soldier today is around 32 years. In time to come, it will come down to 26 years. This will happen in 6-7 years. In order to transform armed forces into youthful, tech-savvy and modern, there's a need to harness the youth's potential & make them future-ready soldiers. Agniveers would be a part of such future-ready soldiers,” said Lt Gen Anil Puri, Additional Secretary, Department of Military Affairs.

Lowering the troops’ age profile was one of the recommendations of the Kargil Review Committee that scrutinised India’s battle fighting abilities more than two decades ago.

The 25% of individuals, who would be selected for enrolment as regular cadre, would be required to serve for a further engagement period of a minimum of 15 years.

The remaining 75% would get an exit package of 11.71 lakh, which would be tax-free. They, however, would not be entitled to gratuity and pensionary benefits.

The death compensation for the Agniveers would be (1) non-contributory life insurance cover of Rs 48 lakh (2) an additional ex-gratia of Rs 44 lakh and (3) pay for the unserved portion up to four years including the exit package (named Seva Nidhi).

Women would also be inducted under the Agnipath scheme, said Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar. “Women would be recruited progressively based on service requirements,” said Lt Gen Puri.

IAF shall be imparting a wide range of training and exposure to 'Agniveers' in aviation, weapons and sophisticated ground systems, said Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari.

“An enhanced youthful profile of the army such as reduction in average age from 32 to 26 years is to be achieved over a period of time. There would be an increase in the technical threshold of the Indian Army by recruiting Agniveer through ITIs and other technical institutes and harnessing their potential,” said Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande.