Vice Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh On The Agnipath Scheme: India’s Defence Will Be Younger And More Tech-savvy

Following the addition of agniveers under the newly announced Agnipath policy, the average age of defence staff will drop from 32 to 26 years, according to vice admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh of the Indian Navy’s Western Naval Command.

According to him, the strategy will enable the Navy to select from a larger pool of candidates those who are more skilled and tech-savvy. Vice Admiral Singh informed reporters at a news conference in Mumbai that the first batch of Agniveers to be recruited into the Indian navy under the newly announced policy would begin training within six months.

Candidates who have completed their SSC or HSC and are between the ages of 17.5 and 21 years old will be able to sit for the exam at three separate levels in order to be selected as Agniveers. The Indian Navy would submit a notification to recruit Agniveers within the next three months, he said.

The Indian navy’s existing recruitment methods will be used to hire agnivesers, he said, admitting that the new policy should benefit a higher proportion of female candidates.

Agniveers will be provided the opportunity to apply for permanent enrolment in the Armed Forces after completing four years of service, based on organisational requirements and policies established by the Armed Forces from time to time.

Up to 25% of each batch of Agniveers would be enrolled in the Armed Forces, military, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force’s regular cadre. He claimed that 46,000 Agniveers will be recruited this year, with the government deciding on the criteria for selecting 25% of them for the defence cadre.

Those agnivesers who do not qualify for the defence cadre will be able to work for other organisations such as the coast guard, police, banking, and other paramilitary services.

Individuals chosen for enlistment in the Armed Forces as regular cadre would be obliged to serve for a minimum of another 15 years and would be subject to the Indian Army’s existing terms and conditions of service for Junior Commissioned Officers/Other Ranks.

Furthermore, the ‘Seva Nidhi’ of almost Rs 11.71 lakh will enable the Agniveer to follow his or her future aspirations without financial constraints. A life insurance policy worth Rs 48 lakh will also be provided for the term of their service in the Armed Forces.