Intake of Agniveers in army to go up to 60,000 in four years

Vijay Mohan

Chandigarh, June 15

The recruitment of Agniveers into the Army under the newly introduced Agnipath scheme that entails a four-year service contract will increase intake by 50 per cent over the next four years.

“In the first year of the commencement of the scheme, the intake into the Army will be 40,000 soldiers, which is expected to go up to 60,000 in the fourth year,” General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, Lt Gen Nav K Khanduri said here today. “Thereafter, the intake will depend as per organisational requirements,” he added.

The Agnipath scheme was announced by the government on June 14 under which 46,000 personnel will be enrolled in the three services in the first year. Recruitment, which has been on hold for over two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, will commence in 90 days and all intake heretofore will be under the this scheme.

General Khanduri said the scheme will not impact the present representation or the ratio of vacancies allotted to different states in the Army’s rank and file, where many regiments are organised on caste and regional lines.

“There will be no change in the present system where vacancies are based on the recruitable male population (RMP) of a state. We will also be focusing on areas from where the intake is less,” he said.

RMP is the assessed number of youth in a state that is eligible to join the armed forces based upon age, education and physical profile. Vacancies allotted to each state is a fixed percentage of the RMP.

The Western Army Commander also said the Army would be modifying the training syllabus for troops, including introducing a system of awarding credit points and diploma certificates, in line with the new national education policy, for upgrading their education qualification and skill sets to empower them for suitable post-release reemployment.

In a separate statement issued today, the Ministry of Education has agreed to recognise in-service training received by Agniveers as credits for graduation and launch a programme for multiple entry-exit points with appropriate certification at every level.

The ministry will start a special 3-year skill based bachelors’ degree programme for serving defence personnel under which 50 per cent credits required for a degree will come from the skill training received in defence establishments and the remaining 50 per cent will come from a basket of courses that cover a wide variety of subjects.

The Western Army Commander also allayed apprehensions that military-trained youth could go astray after completion of their four-year stint in the services. “We already have over 60,000 trained soldiers retiring every year and joining the civil society. Rather, at the end of their four–year service, Agniveers would be disciplined, motivated and suitable empowered to join other vocations or organisations,” Lt Gen Khanduri said.