Indian Army to recruit 40,000 Agniveers in coming months under Agnipath scheme: Vice Chief of Army Staff

The announcement comes a day after the Centre unveiled the `Agnipath` scheme for the recruitment of soldiers in the Indian Army, Navy and Indian Air Force on a four-year contractual basis.

New Delhi: The Indian Army will recruit 40,000 "Agniveers" in the coming months, Vice Chief of Army Staff said on Wednesday (June 15, 2022), a day after the Centre unveiled the "Agnipath" scheme for recruitment of soldiers in the Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force on a four-year short-term contractual basis. The Army recruitment drive will be held in all the 773 districts throughout the country, Vice Chief of Army Staff Lt General B S Raju told news agency PTI.

"The Indian Army will recruit 25,000 'Agniveers' in the next 180 days and the process for recruitment of the remaining 15,000 will begin a month after that," Raju said.

"It will cover every district of the country," he added.

Gen Raju said that the defence minister (Rajnath Singh) is empowered to make necessary changes according to operational requirements.

He stated the recruitment will give a younger profile to the Indian Army and they will also quickly adapt to new technologies. 

What is Agnipath Scheme? 

The Agnipath Scheme provides an opportunity for Indian youth to serve in the regular cadre of the Armed Forces for a period of four years. This is seen as a major defence policy reform introduced by the Narendra Modi-led government to usher in a new era in the human resource policy of the Army, Air Force and Navy. 

The policy, which comes into immediate effect, will hereafter govern the recruitment of personnel below officer rank (PBOR) in the three services.

The Agniveers will form a distinct rank in the three services, and will also wear a distinct insignia as part of their uniform.

The selection will be the exclusive jurisdiction of the Armed Forces and around 46,000 Agniveers will reportedly be recruited this year.

Salary of Agniveers?

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 a one-time `SevaNidhi` 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.

In the first year, Agniveers will get Rs 30,000 per month but they will receive only Rs 21,000 as 30 per cent of their remuneration or Rs 9,000 will be their contribution to the Agniveer Corpus Fund and the government will contribute the same amount to the corpus fund.

Agniveers will receive Rs 33,000 in the second year, Rs 36,500 in the third year and Rs 40,000 in the fourth year.

They will get Rs 11.71 lakh as Seva Nidhi Package after four years. The `Seva Nidhi` will be exempt from Income Tax. 

There shall be no entitlement to gratuity and pensionary benefits. 

Agnipath Scheme's enrolment and eligibility criteria?

Enrolment will be based on an `All India All Class` basis and the eligible age will be in the range from 17.5 to 21 years. Agniveers will have to meet the medical eligibility conditions laid down for enrolment in the armed forces as applicable to respective categories/trades.

The educational qualification for Agniveers will remain in vogue for enrollment in various categories. For example: For entry into General Duty (GD) soldier, the educational qualification is Class 10. 

Enrolment will be undertaken through an 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.

(With agency inputs)