Saddened by the violence surrounding the Agnipath scheme, Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra announced the recruitment of “well-trained and competent” Agniveers.

The Agnipath scheme will allow Indian youth to work in the regular cadre of the armed forces for four years, was announced on June 14, and protests started in various states, including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Telangana and Orissa, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Jharkhand and Assam. As protests intensified in some places, protesters set fire to trains set fire to vehicles and damaged both private and public properties.

46,000 Agniveers will be recruited this year, but a senior military officer said that would rise to 1.25 lakh shortly. The age of enlistment for all recruits in the armed forces is fixed at 17.5 to 21 years old. However, in the wake of the protests, the central government announced it would raise the age cap for Agniveers recruitment from 21 to 23 in the 2022 recruitment cycle, as there have been no recruitments for the past two years.

While the government pointed to the “Agnipath” scheme as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for youth to join the defence system and serve the country, in the armed forces, there is no guarantee that soldiers recruited under the scheme will be better trained and more motivated to defend the country.

Agniveers will sign up for four years of service, including training. After four years, only 25% of Agniveers will be retained or re-enlisted based on merit, willingness and physical fitness as regular officers. This 25% of Agniveers will serve another 15 years.

As the protests continued, a senior military officer clarified on Sunday that the plan would not be overturned, saying it was “the only progressive step towards revitalising the country.”

Meanwhile, the registration process for the first batch of Agniveers under the Agnipath recruitment scheme will begin on June 24, and the online exam will be held on July 24.

In response to concerns about the future of Agniveers and their job security, the Centre approved a proposal to reserve 10% of the vacancies in the Ministry of Defence for Agniveers. They met the necessary eligibility criteria and decided to prioritise their recruitment into the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) and Assam Rifles.

Several state governments, including Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Karnataka, have announced they would prioritise Agniveers in the state government jobs.