Agnipath has become a synonym of “Protest” by now as the number of protests against Agnipath continues to increase. Unveiled by defence minister Rajnath Singh, candidates between the age of 17.5 to 21 were eligible to apply to join the armed forces. However, due to massive protests rage, the Government had no option but to increase the upper age limit to 23 years.
Retired Major General Sheonan Singh commented, “It’s a foolish move, one that could affect the efficiency of the security forces”.
While some of the higher officials are not in favour of this scheme, others have spoken in support of the decision.
NSA Ajit Doval, in an interview, termed the recently unveiled Agnipath Scheme for recruitment as the ‘game changer’ in the defence domain.
Since the announcement of the scheme, Railway property worth 700 crores has been damaged due to the protest along with other losses.
Agnipath Updates:
Selected applicants under the Agnipath scheme will be trained for four years after joining the services. Post which, only 25% of the soldiers will be retained.
Officials familiar with the development stated that The Indian Air Force “IAF” will be the first Indian defence service to recruit young men for the short-term induction of soldiers under the Agnipath model, soon followed by the navy and army in terms of finalizing their recruitment calendar.
The navy said, “The Indian Navy is ready to welcome the first batch of Agniveers in our service, for which the recruitment process will start very soon. We call upon all young men and women of our country to join the Indian Navy as Agniveers and contribute to national security and nation-building”.
Agniveers will be allocated front-line duties in three different services. They will serve at premier air bases, in forward areas along the borders with Pakistan and China, on submarines and board warships and handle modern weapons and systems.
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