Training Of First 'Agniveers' Starting December, Active Duty From Mid-2023: Army Chief Manoj Pande

"The training of first 'Agniveers' will begin this December (in 2022) at the centres. The active service will commence in the middle of 2023," Indian Army Chief General Manoj Pande said.

New Delhi: The training of the first 'Agniveers' will begin in December 2022, with active duty beginning in the middle of 2023, according to Indian Army Chief General Manoj Pande on Friday, as the Central government has yet to declare the official launch date of the Agnipath initiative, news agency ANI reported.

"Recruitment process is going to begin soon. Within the next two days, a notification will be issued on the official website. After that our Army recruitment organisations will declare a detailed schedule of registration and rally," Indian Army Chief informed ANI in an exclusive interview. 

"As far as the question of 'Agniveers' going to recruitment training centres is concerned, the training of first 'Agniveers' will begin this December (in 2022) at the centres. The active service will commence in the middle of 2023," he added.

Furthermore, COVID-19 effectively halted Army recruiting for nearly two years. The Army recruited jawans in 2019-2020, and there has been no entrance since then. The Indian Navy and Indian Air Force, on the other hand, have both recruited in the previous two years.

Protest Against The Agnipath Recruitment Scheme

On Thursday, hundreds of hopefuls disrupted rail and road traffic in Bihar, as police fired tear gas shells to disperse them in protest of the Central government's 'Agnipath' plan for recruitment in the armed services.

On Wednesday, aspirants protested the proposal in Muzaffarpur, Begusarai, and Buxar districts, interrupting road and train traffic. The first cohort of 'Agniveers' will be ready by July 2023, with recruiting starting in the following 90 days.

"The government should give 'Agniveers' 20-30 percent reservation in other jobs once they are out of service after four years under the 'Agnipath' scheme," a protester was quoted by ANI in its report.

The government recently implemented the 'Agnipath' initiative in an effort to alter the Armed Forces recruiting procedure. With the new military recruitment plan receiving criticism from the opposition, the Centre has decided to lower the maximum age restriction for enlisting 'Agniveers.'

The Centre declared on June 16 that the Agniveer upper age restriction for recruitments under the 'Agnipath' initiative has been raised to 23 years from 21 years, as a one-time waiver.

Following the implementation of the Agnipath initiative, the entrance age for all new recruits in the Armed Forces has been set at 17 1/2 to 21 years old, according to the Ministry of Defence on Friday.

According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Defence on Tuesday, the 'Agnipath' initiative is intended to allow for a more young profile of the Armed Forces. It will provide young people who want to wear the uniform a chance by recruiting young talent from the society who are more in sync with current technology trends and returning skilled, disciplined, and motivated personnel to society.

The execution of this strategy is expected to reduce the average age profile of the Indian Armed Forces by four to five years.

The intake of highly inspired young with a stronger grasp of self-discipline, diligence, and focus who are appropriately skilled and will be able to contribute in various sectors would greatly benefit the nation, it stated.

This is a key defence policy change implemented by the central government to herald in a new era in the three Services' Human Resource policies. The policy, which takes effect immediately, will control future enrollment in the three programmes.

(With Inputs From ANI)