Indian Army aims to reduce avg age of soldiers with Agnipath scheme: Vice Chief of Army

Giving out details about the timeline of the Agnipath recruitment, Vice Chief of Army of Staff Lieutenant General Baggavalli Somashekar Raju said that the Indian army is working on getting the first batch, and that a recruitment rally will be conducted within 90 days.

The Vice Chief of the Indian Army further added that the army is working on getting the first batch in the training centres in under 180 days. Lt Gen BS Raju assured that the first batch of Agniveer will be serving the battalions of the Indian army approximately within a year from now.

Vice Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen BS Raju, "90 days from now first the recruitment rally will take place. Approx 180 days from now, the first of the recruits will be in our training centres. Approx a year from now, we'll have the first of the #Agniveers coming into our battalions."

Notably, the Indian Armed forces aim to reduce the average age in the army with the Agnipath scheme. "The average age of Army soldiers is approx 32-33 yrs. With the Agnipath scheme, in around 8-10 yrs, we'll be able to lower the profile of soldiers to approx 26 yrs. It'll make the Army fitter," said Lt Gen BS Raju. The Vice Chief of Army Staff informed the media that the army is looking to recruit 40,000 people under the Agnipath scheme.

Recruitment under Agnipath Scheme

The recruited soldiers will undergo a 6-month training and thereafter will serve the army for 3.5 years. After the end of 4 years, the army will retain 25% of people who have the right attitude and aptitude to serve the Army, said Lt Gen Raju. It is important to mention that the army will be releasing the rest 75% of the people. The Vice Chief of Army staff added, "I think, with this scheme, we will be ready to fight the future wars."

The Vice Army Chief while talking about the recruitment for technical arms said, "We look forward to recruiting people already qualified in skill sets required for the Indian Army. We'll tap the resources of ITI  and polytechnics so that when we get them into Army, the requirement for subsequent training is reduced."

Further, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Lt General Yogendra Dimri divulged more details about the scheme and assured that recruitment via the new scheme wouldn't lead to a drop in quality of the workforce. 

He said, "There will be no dilution in standards. Till 2050 there will be 18 crore people who want to join the workforce. In 90 days, recruitment rally will start. In first 6 months we are ready to face the challenges. In late Aug-Sep, we will bring our rallies to in Uttarakhand and western UP. In Oct-Nov, we will start rallies in Lucknow, Varanasi." 

He also mentioned that the candidates would not be given ex-servicemen status and wouldn't have access to the Army canteen facility once their service ends.

Agnipath Scheme

Agnipath is a short-term service youth recruiting initiative for the Armed Forces that operate across India. Agniveers will be hired for four years and will have extensive military training. The scheme is open to people between the ages of 17.5 and 21. The yearly package would start at Rs 4.76 lakh and can be upgraded to Rs 6.92 lakh by the conclusion of the service. 

Under the scheme, most Indian soldiers will leave the service in just four years. Of the 45,000 to 50,000 recruited annually, only 25% will be allowed to continue for another 15 years under permanent commission. 'Agniveers' will be paid a one-time 'SevaNidhi' package of Rs 11.71 Lakh, which will be exempt from Income Tax.