Youth urged to avail special recruitment initiative in armed forces
AOC-In-C, Eastern Air Command explains about 'Agnipath'
Shillong, June 15: Air Marshal DK Patnaik, Air Officer Commanding in-Chief (AOC-In-C ), Eastern Air Command (EAC), explained on Wednesday about ‘Agnipath’ scheme for recruitment of youth in the Armed Forces, on June 15.
The union cabinet cleared the scheme on Tuesday..
Addressing a press conference at the EAC , he urged the youths in the Northeast to join in the recruitment as they will benefit immensely from the special initiative.
As per the scheme, Agniveers will be enrolled under respective Service Acts for four years and they will be provided a monthly package of Rs 30,000 with risk & hardship allowances as applicable in the three services. One time ‘Seva Nidhi’ package of Rs 11.71 lakh will also be paid to Agniveers upon completion of engagement period of four years.
The ‘Seva Nidhi’ will be exempted from Income Tax. There will be no entitlement to gratuity and pensionary benefits. Agniveers will be provided non-contributory Life Insurance Cover of Rs 48 lakh for the duration of their engagement period in the Indian Armed Forces.
As many as 46,000 Agniveers will be recruited this year and the recruitment rallies will commence in 89 days.
25% of each specific batch of Agniveers will be enrolled in regular cadre of the Armed Forces as it wanted to have a younger, fitter, diverse profile for facing future challenges.
The individuals, selected for enrolment in the Armed Forces as regular cadres, would be required to serve for a further engagement period of minimum 15 years and would be governed by the existing terms and conditions of service of Junior Commissioned Officers/Other Ranks in Indian Army and their equivalent in Indian Navy and Indian Air Force and that of non combatant enrolled in the Indian Air Force, as amended from time to time.
Enrolment will be undertaken through an online centralised system for all three services with specialised rallies and campus interviews from recognised technical institutes such as Industrial Training Institutes and National Skills Qualifications Framework, among others. Enrolment will be based on ‘All India All Class’ basis and the eligible age will range from 17.5 to 21 years. Agniveers will meet the medical eligibility conditions laid down for enrolment in the armed forces as applicable to respective categories/trades. The educational qualification for Agniveers will remain as in vogue for enrollment in various categories. {For example: For entry into General Duty (GD) soldier, the educational qualification is Class 10}.
