Union Home Ministry on Wednesday announced that the soldiers recruited in the defence services under the new 'Agnipath' policy will be given priority for jobs in Central Armed Police Forces and Assam Rifles after they complete their four-year tenure.
“Agnipath Yojana is a visionary and welcome decision of @narendramodi ji for the bright future of youth,” the office of Union Home Minister tweeted.
“In this context, today the ministry of home affairs has decided to give priority to Agniveers who have completed 4 years under this scheme in the recruitment of CAPFs and Assam Rifles,” it added.
The statement said that the home ministry's decision will help the youth trained under Agnipath contribute to the “service and security of the country even further. Detailed planning and work on this decision has already started.
The Union Cabinet had on Tuesday approved a transformative reform scheme to enable Indian youth to serve in the Armed Forces for four years. The AGNIPATH scheme aims to give the armed forces a younger, fitter and tech-savvy profile to meet the challenges ahead, the government said.
Announcing the launch of the new scheme, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said it was a "historic" decision. The chiefs of all the three services — Army, Navy and Air Force — were present for the launch.
It is envisaged that average age profile of Indian Armed forces would come down by about 4-5 years by implementation of this scheme for recruiting “Agniveers” as the young soldiers will be called.
“The nation stands to immensely benefit by infusion of highly inspired youth with deeper understanding of self-discipline, diligence and focus who would be adequately skilled and once they leave the forces after four years will be able to contribute in other sectors.,” according to an official statement.
Under the scheme, about 45,000 people between the age of 17.5 years and 21 years will be inducted into the services for a four-year tenure. The recruitments will begin within the next 90 days and the first batch will be ready by July 2023.
After four years, only 25 per cent of these soldiers will be retained and they will join the regular cadre and go on to serve for a full 15 years in non-officer ranks.
