The government has announced a new process for recruitment to the Indian Armed Forces – Tour of Duty — Agnipath. The process of recruitment of these youth will start in the next ninety days and more than 46,000 youth – boys and girls are expected to be recruited for four years.
The decision to implement such a scheme was taken by the Cabinet Committee on Security headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It was announced by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in the presence of the three service chiefs — Chiefs of the three Services – Gen Manoj Pande, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari and Admiral R Hari Kumar. It will open for all over India and all-class. These new recruits will be forming a distinct rank and have a different insignia.
What is AgniPath Scheme
The union cabinet of india approved one of the attractive scheme for indian youth through that they can join indian armed forces. The name of this scheme is agnipath and selected candidate under this scheme known as agniveer. Under this scheme more then 46000 posts. Qualification for this post will be 10th,12th and ITI.
Main Goal
The scheme once put in motion is going to lower the age profile of the Indian Armed Forces and to contain the ballooning pension bill, as a major chunk of the budget was going into salaries and pensions and the long-awaited modernization projects of the armed forces were getting delayed.
The young men and women between the age of 17 and a half and 21 years will be eligible for the recruitment after clearing all the levels of tests and will be henceforth known as “Agniveers”. These will be recruited either directly through educational institutions or through recruitment rallies and will serve for a short period of four years and will not get any pension.
Benefited to Agniveer Scheme
Agniveers will be given an attractive customised monthly package along with Risk and Hardship allowances as applicable in the three services. On completion of the engagement period of four years, Agniveers will be paid one time ‘Seva Nidhi’ package which shall comprise their contribution including accrued interest thereon and matching contribution from the Government equal to the accumulated amount of their contribution including interest as indicated below:
| Year | Customised Package {Monthly) | In Hand (70%) | Contribution to Agniveer Corpus Fund (30%) | Contribution to corpus fund by GoI |
| All figures in Rs (Monthly Contribution) | ||||
| 1st Year | 30000 | 21000 | 9000 | 9000 |
| 2nd Year | 33000 | 23100 | 9900 | 9900 |
| 3rd Year | 36500 | 25580 | 10950 | 10950 |
| 4th Year | 40000 | 28000 | 12000 | 12000 |
| Total contribution in Agniveer Corpus Fund after four years | Rs 5.02 Lakh | Rs 5.02 Lakh | ||
| ExitAfter 4 Year | Rs 11.71 Lakh as Seva Nidhi Package(Including, interest accumulated on the above amount as per the applicable interest rates would also be paid) |
The ‘Seva Nidhi’ will be exempt from Income Tax. There shall be no entitlement to gratuity and pensionary benefits. Agniveers will be provided non-contributory Life Insurance Cover of Rs 48 lakhs for the duration of their engagement period in the Indian Armed Forces.
During this period of service to the nation, the Agniveers will be imparted with various military skills and experience, discipline, physical fitness, leadership qualities, courage and patriotism. Post this stint of four years, the Agniveers will be infused into the civil society where they can contribute immensely towards the nation building process. The skills gained by each Agniveer will be recognised in a certificate to form part of his unique resume.
Agniveers, on completion of the four year tenure in the prime of their youth, will be mature and self-disciplined with the realization to become better version of himself/herself both professionally as also personally. The avenues and opportunities that will open up for their progress in the civil world after Agniveer tenure would certainly be a big plus towards nation building. Moreover, the Seva Nidhi of approximately Rs 11.71 lakhs would aid the Agniveer to pursue his/her future dreams without the financial pressure, which is normally the case for young people from the financially deprived strata of society.
The individuals, selected for enrolment in the Armed Forces as regular cadre, would be required to serve for a further engagement period of minimum 15 years and would be governed by the existing terms and conditions of service of Junior Commissioned Officers/Other Ranks in Indian Army and their equivalent in Indian Navy and Indian Air Force and that of Non Combatant enrolled in the Indian Air Force, as amended from time to time.
The scheme will lead to much more youthful and technically adept war fighting force by ensuring a fine balance between youthful and experienced personnel in the Armed Forces.
Salary Plan
Earlier this week, the government announced that the salary will be around Rs 40,000 per month by the time the Agniveer reaches his/her fourth year and the government will add to the corpus fund that will be the severance of around Rs 11.71 lakh when they exit. As announced, the soldiers will be contributing almost 30 percent of their salaries for the corpus and an equal amount will be deposited by the government. These recruits will get help in securing loans for further education, they will be getting incentivized with higher educational credits and other bridging courses once they are relieved of their duty.
What is the Tour of Duty package?
India is following a concept which was followed during World War II. Now the youth will be recruited for a fixed period of four years under the scheme called “Agnipath’’ and they will be “Agniveers’’. These “Agniveers’’, according to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) are going to get a customized package which has been made attractive to attract the youth. This package will include Risk and Hardship allowances as applicable in the three services.
Also, at the end of the four years they will receive one time ‘SevaNidhi’ package and this package is going to contain the contribution made by them while on TOD and will include the accrued interest thereon. This will also match the contribution from the government which will be equal to the accumulated amount of their contribution including interest.
Medical Eligibility
All the recruits will have to meet the medical eligibility as required in respective categories and trades of the armed forces.
Educational qualifications
The qualification for Agniveers, according to the MoD statement will remain as invogue for enrollment in various categories. This means in case someone is going for General Duty (Soldier) the qualification is Class 10.
Global Practices
Recruitment of soldiers across the world is under two different categories: conscription and voluntary.
The biggest example of conscription is Russia, which has a system of 12 months conscription-based service.
In Israel too there is a system of conscription and different tenures for men (30 months) and for women the period is for 22 months.
Brazil too has the concept of conscription for tenure of 12 months.
In South Korea Army, Navy and Air Force take in conscripts for 21, 24 and 25 months respectively. And all young men and women have to do this duty before attaining a certain age.
In the US and in China – termed as voluntary service, the tenure is anything between two to eight years. And there are options for getting into active or reservist services and also specific to certain ranks and specializations.
Skill Certificates to be issued by the Skill Development Ministry
As has been reported by Financial Express Online earlier, the recruits will receive different sets of training during their tenure in the service they are recruited to. This will be tracked by the three services which will maintain a digital database of these Agniveers.
The recruitment of women will be an ‘all-India, all-class’ basis and they will have a separate rank and insignia in the Armed Forces.
How many to be recruited by each service?
So, in the first phase around 46,000 young boys and girls will be recruited through the new system. These will include soldiers, airmen and soldiers. The plan of the government to increase the number of recruitments to up to 59,000 within four years.
To meet shortage of personnel in the armed forces in the last two years, this recruitment process will help the Indian Army to induct around 40,000 soldiers in the first phase.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is set to induct 3,000 airmen and the Indian Navy around 3,000 sailors.
Due to the global pandemic of COVID-19, for almost two years the recruitment rallies could not take place. And, through the “Agnipath” scheme by the second year the number of intake will go up to 46,500 and the numbers going into Army and Navy will remain the same, but the number for the IAF is expected to go up to 3,500.
The third year will witness a jump in the number of recruits to around 52,400 and the intake by the Army will go up to 45,000, Navy will remain the same and the IAF will touch 4,400.
In the fourth year of the scheme the numbers will go up to around 58,000 and the Army will take on board 50,000, Navy 3,500 and there will be a significant increase in the IAF’s intake when 5,300 are taken in.
Agniveer Scheme Advantages
- A transformative reform of recruitment policy of the Armed Forces.
- A unique opportunity to the youth to serve the country and contribute to Nation Building.
- Armed Forces profile to be youthful and dynamic.
- Attractive financial package for the Agniveers.
- Opportunity for Agniveers to train in the best institutions and enhance their skills & qualifications.
- Availability of well disciplined and skilled youth with military ethos in civil society.
- Adequate re-employment opportunities for those returning to society and who could emerge as role models for the youth.
Agniveer Scheme: Terms & Conditions
Under the AGNIPATH scheme, the Agniveers will be enrolled in the Forces under respective Service Acts for a period of four years. They would form a distinct rank in the Armed Forces, different from any other existing ranks. Upon the completion of four years of service, based on organisational requirement and policies promulgated by the Armed Forces from time-to-time, Agniveers will be offered an opportunity to apply for permanent enrolment in the Armed Forces. These applications will be considered in a centralised manner based on objective criteria including performance during their four-year engagement period and up to 25% of each specific batch of Agniveers will
be enrolled in regular cadre of the Armed Forces. Detailed guidelines will be issued separately.
Enrolment will be undertaken throughan online centralised system for all three services with specialised rallies and campus interviews from recognised technical institutes such as Industrial Training Institutes and National Skills Qualifications Framework, among others. Enrolment will be based on ‘All India All Class’ basis and the eligible age will be in range from 17.5 to 21 years. Agniveers will meet the medical eligibility conditions laid down for enrolment in the armed forces as applicable to respective categories/trades. The educational qualification for Agniueers will remain as in vogue for enrollment in various categories. For example: For entry into General Duty (GD) soldier, the educational qualification is Class 10.
