Editor's Pick: Services rule out rollback of Agnipath, reveal hiring plan

Amid widespread protests across the nation over Centre’s new ‘Agnipath’ scheme, a senior military officer on Sunday ruled out any rollback of the scheme, and said those applying for it should give an undertaking that they did not take part in protests that broke out after its announcement. Addressing a tri-service press conference, Lieutenant-General Anil Puri, Additional Secretary in the Department of Military Affairs, said that the recruitment schedule for the first batch of Agniveers with training is set to commence by end of 2022. With Agnipath, he said, the average age will come down from 32 to 26 in line with the age profile of major Armies worldwide. Batting for a technology-driven future for the Forces, he stressed that a younger profile is needed. He asserted that allowances of Agniveers would be the same as what regular soldiers drew, while pointing out that recruitment was not held for two years due to the pandemic. Air Marshal S.K. Jha, Air Officer in-charge, Personnel, said the notification and registration process for enrolment of the first batch would go live online from June 24 and training of the enrollees will begin by December 30. Of the 3,000 Agniveers to be inducted by the Navy this year, the Navy is looking at recruiting up to 600 women Agniveers; depending on the modalities, they would be posted on warships as well, it has been learnt. The Army, which plans to induct 40,000 Agniveers in the first batch, will recruit around 25,000 Agniveers by the first half of December and the remaining in the second batch by the first half of February 2023. For this, 83 rallies are planned across the country covering all the States, stated Lt. Gen. C.B. Ponnappa, Adjutant General of Army. Intake of recruits under Agnipath will increase from 46,000 annually in the first 4 years to 90,000 in the 5th year and to 1,25,000 from the 6th year. On June 14, the Centre had announced the Agnipath scheme for recruitment of soldiers into the armed forces for four years in the age-group 17 ½ to 21 years of age. Agniveers on completion of four years will get an opportunity to join regular cadre and upto 25% would be selected through another recruitment process. Following the announcement by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, violent protests have been witnessed in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Haryana and Rajasthan by youths opposing the new scheme. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor‘s Pick and more. Click here The Hindu’s Editorials Designation failure: On China’s decision to block terror tag for Lashkar leader Monsoon jitters: On rain deficit and droughts The Hindu’s Daily Quiz After Mithali Raj retired from international cricket, who has taken over as the ODI captain of the Indian women’s cricket team? Smriti Mandhana Jhulan Goswami Harmanpreet Kaur Poonam Yadav To find out the answer and play the full quiz, click here [logo] Editor's Pick 20 JUNE 2022 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( Services rule out rollback of Agnipath, reveal hiring plan Amid widespread protests across the nation over Centre’s new ‘Agnipath’ scheme, a senior military officer on Sunday [ruled out any rollback of the scheme]( and said those applying for it should give an undertaking that they did not take part in protests that broke out after its announcement. Addressing a tri-service press conference, Lieutenant-General Anil Puri, Additional Secretary in the Department of Military Affairs, said that the [recruitment schedule]( for the first batch of Agniveers with training is set to commence by end of 2022. With Agnipath, he said, the average age will come down from 32 to 26 in line with the age profile of major Armies worldwide. Batting for a technology-driven future for the Forces, he stressed that a younger profile is needed. He asserted that allowances of Agniveers would be the same as what regular soldiers drew, while pointing out that recruitment was not held for two years due to the pandemic. Air Marshal S.K. Jha, Air Officer in-charge, Personnel, said the [notification and registration process for enrolment]( of the first batch would go live online from June 24 and training of the enrollees will begin by December 30. Of the 3,000 Agniveers to be inducted by the Navy this year, the Navy is looking at recruiting up to 600 women Agniveers; depending on the modalities, they would be posted on warships as well, it has been learnt. The Army, which plans to induct 40,000 Agniveers in the first batch, will recruit around 25,000 Agniveers by the first half of December and the remaining in the second batch by the first half of February 2023. For this, 83 rallies are planned across the country covering all the States, stated Lt. Gen. C.B. Ponnappa, Adjutant General of Army. Intake of recruits under Agnipath will increase from 46,000 annually in the first 4 years to 90,000 in the 5th year and to 1,25,000 from the 6th year. On June 14, the Centre had announced the Agnipath scheme for recruitment of soldiers into the armed forces for four years in the age-group 17 ½ to 21 years of age. Agniveers on completion of four years will get an opportunity to join regular cadre and upto 25% would be selected through another recruitment process. Following the announcement by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, [violent protest]( have been witnessed in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Haryana and Rajasthan by youths opposing the new scheme. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? 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