Even as nationwide protests against the newly introduced armed forced recruitment scheme by the Indian government- Agneepath- continued in different parts of the country, the three service chiefs of the Indian defense system met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday and informed them about it. How did he plan to implement this plan.
Agneepath Scheme There is a provision to recruit youth in the age group of 17 साढ़े to 21 years, announced on June 14, for a period of four years, of which 25% is to be retained for 15 more years. For 2022, the upper age limit has been increased to 23 years.
Earlier the Department of Military Affairs also held a press conference on Agneepath plan and released some clarifications and schedule regarding the plan.
Additional secretary Lt Gen Anil Puri said, “There will be no change in the recruitment process. What happened five years ago, what happened earlier will continue.” Ministry of DefenceDepartment of Military Affairs, during a media briefing.
At the briefing, top officials of the three services announced a detailed schedule of the recruitment process, stating that there would be no compromise on the quality of training to be given to “Agnivars”, although the duration of their training period would be suppressed.
“There can be no compromise on the combat capability and readiness of the Indian Air Force. The Indian Air Force and the Government will do everything that is necessary to keep us combat-ready and combat-ready,” said the Air Officer in charge of Personnel, Air Marshal SK Jha said.
Lt Gen Puri said that the Agneepath scheme will give strength to the armed forces. Air Marshal Jha said there has been “absolutely no change” in the Indian Air Force’s recruitment process, entry-level qualifications, examination syllabus and medical standards under the Agneepath scheme.
It was informed during the media briefing that all Agniveers, or Sainiks recruited under the Short Term Contract Recruitment Scheme will be eligible for Paramveer and other gallantry awards. Apart from this, the officer of the Indian Naval Forces also said that the Agniveers will get an opportunity to join the Merchant Navy after completing four years of training in the Navy.
Later in the day the three army chiefs met PM Modi, He briefed them on the Agneepath scheme and related issues in the backdrop of the ongoing protests against the new policy for military recruitment.
It is learned that Army Chief General Manoj Pandey, Air Chief Marshal VR Choudhary and Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar apprised Modi about the overall induction process and the steps being taken by them for the successful rollout of the scheme.
There was no official comment on the meetings.
The Center has been strongly defending the scheme, saying the “transformative reform” measure for recruitment in the armed forces will provide an opportunity to the youth to serve the country.
(with inputs from PTI)