Govt to announce 3-year Agnipath entry scheme for defence forces

The central government is expected to launch a new programme dubbed Agnipath, in which young people will join the military for a three-year period and serve the country. The initiative is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's substantial reforms aimed at lowering defence spending and changing the age makeup of the troops.

According to top government sources, the youth would join the army through the Agnipath entrance plan and will be known as 'Agniveers' during their service.

Forces are presenting final presentations to the government on the initiative, which will allow them to keep the top talent among the 'Agniveers' while freeing the rest to work in civilian professions. Corporate houses have also contacted the government to see if they can hire military-trained youths.

With the goal of reducing Army officer shortages and cutting down on rising defence pension costs, the model was first proposed in 2020. The rules are likely to be changed so that only short-term contract soldiers can be hired, not full-time soldiers.

Gen Bipin Rawat, the late Chief of the Defense Staff, came up with the idea for short-term contract hiring. He was looking for ways to cut the growing pension bill and the money the government had to spend on salaries and other things.

Due to the Covid pandemic, the recruitment cycles for personnel in the armed forces have been significantly shortened in the last two years, with official records suggesting that 1.25 lakh vacancies are currently available in the defence forces.

While the exact details of the proposal have yet to be published, the original idea was to bring in soldiers for a three-year term, both for general and specialised roles. This would represent a departure from the previous concept of permanent military recruiting, in which soldiers serve for varied periods of time.

Also read: Govt to roll out the new recruitment process for jawans