The Indian Army on Monday released a notification for the recruitment of personnel under the Agnipath scheme, and launched an online portal for the registration of prospective Agniveers, with enrolment set to begin in July.
The notice, released on Monday on the website joinindianarmy.nic.in, said: “Registration will be opened from Jul 2022 onwards by respective AROs for Agniveer General duty Agniveer technical, Agniveer technical (Aviation/Ammunition examiner), Agniveer clerk/store keeper technical, Agniveer tradesman 10th pass and Agniveer tradesman 8th pass per the ARO rally schedule.”
It said that the recruitment will be done based on the Army Act, 1950 for a duration of four years that includes the training period.
The move came even as protests against the new recruitment scheme continued on Monday, and a day after the defence ministry ruled out a rollback of the new scheme and said that Agnipath aspirants will be rejected if they have been accused of arson or vandalism.
“Every individual who wants to join the armed forces through the Agnipath scheme will have to submit a pledge that they were neither part of any protest nor were involved in any violence. Nobody can join the forces without police verification... We have made the provisions,” said Lt General Anil Puri, the additional secretary of the department of military affairs, at a press conference in the Capital on Sunday.
{{/usCountry}}“Every individual who wants to join the armed forces through the Agnipath scheme will have to submit a pledge that they were neither part of any protest nor were involved in any violence. Nobody can join the forces without police verification... We have made the provisions,” said Lt General Anil Puri, the additional secretary of the department of military affairs, at a press conference in the Capital on Sunday.
{{/usCountry}}He also said the alleged protests were instigated by “inimical forces” as well as some coaching institutes, adding that discipline was paramount for the armed forces.
The Agnipath scheme involves recruiting youth between the ages of 17-and-a-half and 21 years for a four-year tenure, with a one-time exception of up to 23 years for this year only. The recruitment will be done based on a common entrance test, medical test and physical test. The ranks allotted to Agniveers will be considered distinct from the regular ranks in the Indian Army.
A ‘seva nidhi’ package of ₹10.04 lakh (along with taxes) will be provided to Agniveers after they are discharged from service. However, they will not be entitled to the pension or gratuity scheme, ex-servicemen contributory health scheme (ECHS), canteen stores department (CDS) or ex-serviceman status.
Around 25% of each Agniveer batch will be enrolled into the regular cadre of the Indian Army, depending on their performance in periodical physical and medical check-ups and written/field tests.