The recruitment process for the Indian Air Force under the Agnipath scheme began on June 24 with the opening of registration windows, a week after violent protests engulfed several states.

In unveiling the Agnipath scheme on June 14, the government had said youth between the ages of 17½ and 21 would be given four-year terms, with 25% of them will receive regular service.

Several regions of the country have witnessed violent protests against the scheme. Some opposition parties and military experts have slammed the plan, arguing that it will adversely affect the armed forces’ ability to fight.

The government has on June 16 raised the upper age limit for recruitment under the scheme to 23 from 21 in 2022. Those recruited under the Agnipath scheme will be referred to as “Agniveers”.

The Army said the new scheme would ensure the Defence Force is younger and lower the average age of soldiers from 32 to 26.

Three service chiefs strongly supported the scheme, which was released after more than two years of deliberation.
The monthly salary of Agniveers will be Rs 30,000 for the first year of employment. The amount on hand is Rs 21,000; the remaining Rs 9,000 will be donated to the corpus, and the government will make an equal contribution. Subsequently, the monthly salary for the second, third and fourth years will be Rs 33,000, Rs 36,500 and Rs 40,000, respectively.

Each Agniveer will receive Rs 11.71 lakh as a ‘Seva Nidhi Package’ upon retirement, free of income tax. The four-year term under the new scheme will include two and a half to six months of training.