Jun 14, 2022
By: Shradha AnejaThe government has approved the ‘transformative’ Agnipath scheme as of today, June 14. Soldiers for the Army, Navy and Air Force will be recruited under the scheme as Agniveers, on a short-term contractual basis for four years.
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"This scheme has been brought to strengthen the security of the country. It is a transformative scheme," Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in a press conference today.
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Singh said that the infusion of disciplined, motivated and skilled 'Agniveers' back into society after military service, would be a great asset for the nation as it will be a "win-win proposition".
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Individuals of age between 17.5 years to 21 years will be eligible to enroll in this scheme. The enrollments under the scheme are set to start within 90 days.
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The aim of the scheme is to make the country more secure and strengthen the arm forces. It also focuses on cutting the ballooning salary and pension bills and empowering the armed forces with youthful candidates.
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Agniveers will be given a monthly salary of ₹ 30,000 in the first year. Though the in-hand amount would be ₹ 21,000 as ₹ 9,000 would go to a corpus with a contribution from the government.
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For the second, third and fourth year, the Agniveers will receive a monthly salary of ₹ 33,000, ₹ 36,500 and ₹ 40,000 respectively.
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The recruits will not be entitled to gratuity and pensionary benefits and the new recruits will be provided non-contributory life insurance cover of Rs 48 lakh for the duration of their engagement period in the armed forces.
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Each Agniveer will receive an amount of ₹11.71 Lakhs as a ‘Seva Nidhi package’ and will be spared from paying income tax on this.
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After the completion of 4 years, the Agniveers will have to go through a screen test and there will be "no compromise" on physical, medical and professional standards and parameters. Also, up to 25 percent of Agniveers of each specific batch will be re-listed in regular cadres of the armed forces.
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The ministry said, enrolment will be based on 'All India All Class' and candidates will go through an online centralized system for all three services.
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