India announces radical scheme to expose youth to the armed forces

The scheme, cleared by the Cabinet, is called “Agnipath”, or path of fire, and the youth selected under it will be known as ”Agniveers” (path of the brave). The scheme allows patriotic and motivated youth to serve in the armed forces for a period of four years.

Announcing the scheme in the presence of the three services chiefs, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh hailed “Agnipath” as a “transformative initiative” that will bring about a huge change and open up opportunities for the nation’s youth. He said the scheme will strengthen India’s security while providing a youthful profile to the armed forces.

The Agnipath scheme has been designed to provide a youthful profile of the armed forces. It will provide an opportunity to the youth who may be keen to don the uniform by attracting young talent from the society who are more in tune with contemporary technological trends and plough back skilled, disciplined and motivated manpower into the society.

It is envisaged that the average age profile of Indian armed forces will come down by about 4-5 years from the implementation of this scheme. An official note said the dividends of short military service to the nation, society and the youth of the nation are immense. This includes the inculcation of patriotism, teamwork, enhancement of physical fitness, ingrained loyalty to the country and availability of trained personnel to boost national security in times of external threats, internal threats and natural disasters.

This is a major defence policy reform introduced by the government in the human resource policy of the three services.

”Agniveers” will be given an attractive customised monthly package along with “risk and hardship” allowances as applicable in the three services. On completion of the engagement period of four years, they will be paid a one-time package, which shall comprise their contribution including accrued interest thereon and matching contribution from the government equal to the accumulated amount of their contribution including interest.

During this period of service to the nation, the interns will be imparted with various military skills and experience, discipline, physical fitness, leadership qualities, courage and patriotism.

The enrolment will be undertaken through an online centralised system for all three services with specialised rallies and campus interviews from recognised technical institutes. The eligible age will be in the range of 17 and half years to 21 years.

The Statesman

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