Can become Agniveers for a short period of time; opportunities for girls in new recruitment scheme announced by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh

NEW DELHI: The Central government has come up with revolutionary decisions in the recruitment of armed forces. The Centre has revised the exisiting conditions of service till retirement or service of 15-20 years. Instead as per the new decision a shorter service period is allowed. The recruitment is for age group of 17.5- 21 years and for a period of four years under the Agnipath scheme. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has revealed details about this scheme.

Those who get recruited under the sceheme will be known as 'Agniveers'.They have an exit retirement package of four years. 25% of Agniveers will be enrolled in regular armed forces for a period of 15 years. Six month training period is provided before joining the service with a monthly salary of Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000. They are also entitled to benefits including health insurance.

The aim is to overcome the additional financial and pension liabilities incurred in making permanent appointments through short-term appointments. Rajnath Singh has said that the recruitment is within the next 90 days. The first batch will be ready in July 2023. There will also be appointments to the Army, Air Force and Navy.

Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R Harikumar said the girls would also be recruited as Agniveers. The recruitment is through through an online centralized system. As per official sources, the same qualifications required for recruitment to the army is applicable to them also.

They will be demobilized after four years, with an exit package of Rs 11-12 lakhs. But they will not get pension. If the scheme becomes successful, then Defense Ministry estimates that they will get a surplus of Rs 5.2 crore from the annual defense budget. 45,000 people will be recruited in the first batch.