Army tweaks Agnipath scheme to recruit skilled candidates for technical roles

The Indian Army has tweaked the Agnipath scheme to include pre-skilled youth, ITI/Polytechnics graduates in the technical category with the aim to increase eligibility criteria for Agniveers.

The changes are being introduced to cut time spent on training of individuals, media reports said.

The Army said that the tweaks are likely to make the scheme open to more candidates.


The development comes after the Army revised the selection process for ‘Agniveers’ making it mandatory for aspirants to appear for an online common entrance examination, followed by physical fitness and medical tests. The first online CEE is slated to be held in April at nearly 200 locations across the country.

Under the Agnipath scheme, announced on June 14 last year, the three services are recruiting youths between the age bracket of 17-and-half years and 21 years for four years with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years.

For 2022, the upper age limit has been extended to 23 years.

Several parts of India had witnessed violent protests against the scheme with the agitators demanding its roll back as the new model does not provide a job guarantee to 75 per cent of recruits. But the protests fizzled out within weeks.

The government has also announced 'Seva Nidhi Package' under which 'Agniveers' will get an amount of Rs 11.71 lakh after completion of four years. The amount will be exempted from income tax, it said.